Lambert began his music career in 1960 when he signed to Capitol Records as a recording artist. By the mid-1960s, he was writing and producing for other artists. Among his earliest work with his first main collaborator Lou Courtney were songs for Freddie & the Dreamers, Lorraine Ellison, Jerry Butler and Jerry Lee Lewis.
In 1965, Lambert joined the A&R staff of Mercury Records where he was mentored by Quincy Jones and Shelby Singleton, before joining Don Costa at DCP Records, where he ran the label's A&R department, producing and writing songs.
After a spell in the US Army during the Vietnam War, he moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and the following year, forged a successful 11-year working collaboration with young British songwriter-musician Brian Potter after the two met while Lambert was in London in 1969.
In the 1990s, Lambert wrote and produced for Dave Koz, Little River Band, Elaine Paige and Dionne Warwick, among others. He also composed the musical score to the film directed by Edward James Olmos, American Me. In the mid-1990s, Lambert returned to New York and established Babylon Entertainment which included the record label imprint distributed by Trauma Records (BMG) and music publishing companies.
Lambert moved to south Florida in the 2000s and was the subject of an award-winning feature-length documentary film, Of All the Things, directed by his screenwriter son Jody Lambert, which followed him on a cross-country tour of the Philippines, where he is seen as an iconic singer-songwriter (his single "Of All the Things" is still a hit in the country even at present).[2] In 2011, Warner Bros Pictures and Steve Carell optioned the rights to do a re-make based on Lambert's life story. Lambert and Potter also reunited to write a musical for Broadway which is in active development. Lambert has also performed live as a singer touring his show.
