Bert Potter (composer)

Albert Lincoln “Bert” Potter (March11, 1874 – January29, 1930) was a composer of popular songs active between 1904 and 1917. Biography Bert Potter, born in Boston, was the first child of Algernon S. and Flora E. Potter. Algernon was a wholesale dealer in clothing, and Bert was raised in an upper-middle-class family, with two Irish servants in the household. After his marriage to Eleanor Dodge (August 2, 1898), Bert worked in his father’s business; but early in the twentieth century he migrated into music, publishing his first songs in 1904. Shortly afterwards he settled in Dorchester, in a house that he occupied the rest of his life. The 1908 city directory identified him as a “musician”, and at least from 1910 to 1914 he worked as a salesman in piano stores. By 1918, however, he had abandoned the musical profession and become an agent with John Hancock Mutual Insurance Co., serving in that capacity until his death. Composer Between 1904 and 1907 eighteen publications by Potter were copyrighted; in 1912 there were two more, and in 1917 a single, final one. He wrote piano pieces and songs, the latter usually to his own texts. Most pieces are uptempo rags, marches, and novelties; at lea