Van der Graaf Generator Bassist Nic Potter Dies at 61

Nic Potter
Nic Potter
British bassist, songwriter and painter Nic Potter died January 17th, 2013. He was a respected musician who worked with legendary progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s.

Nic Potter was born October 18th of 1951 in Wiltshire. He joined Van der Graaf Generator in 1969. Potter participated in the album The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other. He left the band during the recording of H to He, although he appears in 3 tracks.

He stayed in touch with Van der Graaf Generator and played bass on Peter Hammill’s debut solo album, Fool’s Mate. He also participated in Colin Scot’s album titled Colin Scot and with the band Magna Carta.

Throughout the 1970s he performed with many musicians spanning various musical styles. He worked with Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, Rare Bird and Steve Swindells.

In 1977, he returned to Van der Graaf Generator. He appeared on the albums The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977) and the double live set Vital (1978), as well as on Peter Hammill’s solo recording Over (1977).

During the 1980s and early 1990s Potter worked on various projects. He continued to record and tour with Peter Hammill and played bass for the K-Group and Duncan Browne. He also started a solo career, focusing on electronic music. Solo albums include The Long Hello Volume II (1980), Mountain Music (1983), Sketches In Sound (1986), The Blue Zone (1990), The Blue Zone Party Live (1991), Dreamworld (1997).

In 2008 Potter released the album “Live in Italy” that featured Van der Graaf Generator‘s David Jackson on saxophone and flutes, Tony Pagliuca (of legendary Italian band Le Orme) on keyboards, Francesca Arrigoni on vocals, Franco Giaffreda on guitar, and Gigi Cavalli Cocchi on drums.

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