Songwriter and producer
Dennis Lambert enjoyed a successful run working for the ABC-Dunhill label during the '70s, where he and partner
Brian Potter helmed hit records for
the Four Tops,
Dusty Springfield, and
Glen Campbell, among others.
Lambert began his career as something of a folkie, forming a poppy folk-rock duo with fellow singer/guitarist
Craig Nuttycombe in Los Angeles in 1968. The first
Lambert & Nuttycombe album,
At Home, was released on A&M in 1970, and actually was recorded in the duo's Sausalito, CA, living room. In the meantime,
Lambert had formed a songwriting partnership with
Brian Potter, with whom he signed a publishing deal with ABC-Dunhill in 1969.
Lambert cut a solo album, Bags and Things, in 1972, and returned for a second and final
Lambert & Nuttycombe album, As You Will, in 1973.
However,
Lambert's songwriting and production work at ABC-Dunhill was beginning to make clear that his real fortune lay behind the scenes. He and
Potter had their first taste of success writing for
the Grass Roots in 1969, and struck gold penning
Coven's antiwar protest hit "One Tin Soldier" that year. A few more hits followed, including Gayle McCormick's "It's a Cryin' Shame" and
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds' "Don't Pull Your Love (Out)." 1972, however, was their true breakout year, thanks to their work on
the Four Tops' post-Motown LP
Keeper of the Castle; the group went on to score hits with the
Lambert/
Potter-penned title track and "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)," which revived their career. In the wake of that success,
Lambert and
Potter were teamed with new ABC-Dunhill signee
Dusty Springfield for 1973's
Cameo LP, and the following year they helped bring R&B group
Tavares their first significant chart success.
Lambert and
Potter's biggest smash as producers came in 1975 with
Glen Campbell's
Rhinestone Cowboy LP, for which they also wrote four songs. By this point,
Lambert and
Potter had formed their own label, Haven, which was the mid-'70s home of
the Righteous Brothers. Haven's greatest commercial success came in 1978 with one-hit wonder
Player's "Baby Come Back," produced but not written by
Lambert and
Potter.
Lambert's songwriting and production activity tailed off substantially in the '80s, but he occasionally resurfaced to work with the likes of
Natalie Cole and
the Commodores. ~ Steve Huey