The instrumental “Pick Up the Pieces” is today’s classic song of the day. Released by the Average White Band in July of 1974, this single went all the way to #1 (in early 1975) on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It failed to chart in the band’s native UK, however.
Even though they sounded funky, the Average White Band was a group of white guys from Scotland. Formed in 1971, the band consisted of Roger Ball on alto sax and keyboards, Malcolm “Molly” Duncan on tenor sax, Michael Rosen on trumpet and guitar, Hamish Stuart on guitar and bass, and Robbie McIntosh on drums. Singer Bonnie Bramlett suggested the band’s name, as they were indeed a fairly average white band who happened to like American R&B and featured a tight rhythm section and some killer horns.
“Pick Up the Pieces” was written by band members Roger Ball and Hamish Stewart, along with the other members of band, collectively credited as “AWB.” Band member Molly Duncan allegedly argued against releasing the song as a single, as it was a “funk instrumental played by Scotsmen with no lyrics other than a shout.” Yeah, but it was funky.
AWB went on to release several more singles, including 1975’s “Cut the Cake,” a top ten hit. They broke up in 1983, although various permutations of the original group (with added members) got back together over the years. Original drummer Robbie Macintosh died of an accidental heroin overdose in 1974 and sax player Molly Duncan passed away in 2019, but the other members are still going strong.
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, the Average White Band performing “Pick Up the Pieces” live on the February 22, 1975, episode of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. They were pretty funky for a bunch of white guys from Scotland.
