Average White Band

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Average White Band
Average White Band at The Liquid Room club in Edinburgh on May 20, 2008.
Average White Band at The Liquid Room club in Edinburgh on May 20, 2008.
General information
Genre (s) Soul , funk , jazz
founding 1972, 1989
resolution 1983
Website http://www.averagewhiteband.com/
Founding members
Alan Gorrie
Vocals, guitar
 Hamish Stuart
Vocals, guitar
 Onnie McIntyre
Roger ball
saxophone
 Malcolm Duncan
Robbie McIntosh († 1974)
Current occupation
Vocals, guitar, bass
 Alan Gorrie
Vocals, guitar
 Onnie McIntyre
Vocals, keyboard, electric bass
Klyde Jones
Saxophone, keyboard
 Fred "Freddy V" Vigdor
Drums, percussion
Brian Dunne

The Average White Band , also AWB for short , comes from Scotland and is one of the few European soul bands that became popular with black music . It was founded in 1972 by Alan Gorrie, Roger Ball, Malcolm "Molly" Duncan († 2019), Robbie McIntosh († 1974), Hamish Stuart and Onnie McIntyre. Their name ("Average White Band" or "Average White Band") refers both to the fact that all of the founding members were white and to a friend's comment that the music was "too much for the average white man".

Career

In January 1973 the Average White Band performed at Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert in London. Soon after, Bonnie Bramlett relied on the musical support of the AWB to record her record Sweet Bonnie Bramlett in Los Angeles. The 1973 debut Show Your Hand , released by the soul-inexperienced Music Corporation of America (MCA) label , received little attention. In Atlantic Records , the sextet finally saw an adequate company for their music, and from then on producer Arif Mardin also joined the band. With success: the follow-up album Average White Band , published in 1974, gained significantly more buyers. The released single Pick Up the Pieces is considered a classic of funk music. The instrumental reached number 1 in the US pop charts.

On September 23, 1974, McIntosh died of a heroin overdose at a party after a concert at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles and had to be replaced by Steve Ferrone .

Rhythmic soul funk could be heard on the 1975 album Cut the Cake , which sold very well, it was dedicated to the late friend and brother Robbie McIntosh. The 76 albums Soul Searchin ' and Person to Person did not fall short of expectations either. With the album Benny and Us (with Ben E. King ) the band reached their last climax in the summer of 1977. At the end of 1982 the band broke up.

In 1989 the AWB was reunited by Gorrie, McIntyre, Ball and Ferrone. Chaka Khan , Ronnie Laws and the Ohio Players helped with the LP Aftershock . In 1992, Stuart rejoined the band. In March 1994, a remix of Let's Go Round Again appeared in the lower half of the UK singles chart.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1973 Show your hand - US39 (13 weeks)
US
Chart entry only after re-release in 1975 as Put It Where You Want It
1974 AWB UK6th
silver
silver

(14 weeks)UK 		US1
gold
gold

(43 weeks)US
1975 Cut the cake UK28 (4 weeks)
UK 		US4th
gold
gold

(24 weeks)US
1976 Soul Searching UK60 (1 week)
UK 		US9
platinum
platinum

(32 weeks)US
1977 Benny & Us - US33 (21 weeks)
US
1978 Warmer Communications - US28
gold
gold

(17 weeks)US
1979 I feel no fret UK15th
silver
silver

(14 weeks)UK 		US32 (15 weeks)
US
1980 Shine UK14 (13 weeks)
UK 		US116 (12 weeks)
US

More studio albums

  • 1982: Cupids in Fashion
  • 1989: aftershock
  • 1997: Soul Tattoo
  • 2003: Living in Color
  • 2018: Inside Out

Live albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1976 Person to person - US28
gold
gold

(18 weeks)US

More live albums

  • 1999: Face to Face
  • 2006: Soul and the City
  • 2011: Live at Montreux 1977
  • 2013: Times Squared
  • 2015: Access All Areas
  • 2016: AWB R&B

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1980 Volume VIII - US182 (2 weeks)
US
1994 The Best Of Average White Band UK38
silver
silver

(4 weeks)UK 		-
2019 gold UK99 (1 week)
UK 		-

More compilations

  • 1992: Pickin 'Up the Pieces: The Best of Average White Band
  • 1997: Pick Up the Pieces and Other Hits
  • 2005: Greatest & Latest
  • 2006: The Very Best Of
  • 2009: Pick Up the Pieces (The Very Best Of)
  • 2014: All the Pieces - The Complete Studio Recordings 1971-2003

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US R&B R&B
1974 Pick up the pieces
AWB 		UK6 (9 weeks)
UK 		US1
gold
gold

(17 weeks)US 		R&B5 (20 weeks)
R&B
1975 Cut the Cake
Cut the Cake 		UK31 (4 weeks)
UK 		US10 (15 weeks)
US 		R&B7 (17 weeks)
R&B
If I Ever Lose This Heaven
Cut the Cake 		- US39 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B25 (11 weeks)
R&B
School Boy Crush
Cut the Cake 		- US33 (7 weeks)
US 		R&B22 (13 weeks)
R&B
1976 Queen of My Soul
Soul Searching 		UK23 (7 weeks)
UK 		US40 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B21 (10 weeks)
R&B
A Love of Your Own
Soul Searching 		- - R&B35 (13 weeks)
R&B
1977 Cloudy
Person To Person 		- - R&B55 (9 weeks)
R&B
Get It Up
Benny And Us 		- - R&B21 (14 weeks)
R&B
with Ben E. King
1978 Your Love Is A Miracle
Warmer Communications 		- - R&B33 (9 weeks)
R&B
1979 Walk on By
Feel No Fret 		UK46 (5 weeks)
UK 		US92 (3 weeks)
US 		R&B32 (13 weeks)
R&B
When Will You Be Mine
Feel No Fret 		UK49 (5 weeks)
UK 		- -
1980 Let's Go Round Again
Shine 		UK12 (11 weeks)
UK 		US53 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B40 (9 weeks)
R&B
For you, for love
shine 		UK46 (4 weeks)
UK 		- R&B60 (6 weeks)
R&B

More singles

  • 1973: Put It Where You Want It
  • 1973: Show Your Hand
  • 1973: This World Has Music
  • 1974: How Can You Go Home
  • 1974: Nothing You Can Do
  • 1975: How Can You Go Home
  • 1975: Twilight Zone
  • 1976: Everybody's Darling
  • 1977: Goin 'Home
  • 1977: The Message
  • 1977: Imagine
  • 1977: A Star In the Ghetto
  • 1978: One Look Over My Shoulder (Is This Really Goodbye?)
  • 1978: Big City Lights
  • 1979: Atlantic Avenue
  • 1979: Feel No Fret
  • 1980: Into the Night
  • 1982: Easier Said Than Done
  • 1982: Cupids in Fashion
  • 1988: The Spirit of Love

Video albums

  • 2002: Tonight

swell

  1. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/14/average-white-band-how-we-made-pick-up-the-pieces-interview
  2. ↑ a b c d Chart sources: UK US1 US2
  3. ↑ a b c d Music Sales Awards: US UK

Web links