Pickin' Up The Pieces: Best Of The Average White Band (1974-1980) CD

Live Recording

Average White Band: Alan Gorrie, Hamish Stuart (vocals, guitar, bass);
Onnie Mcintyre (guitar, background vocals); Malcolm "Molly" Duncan (flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Roger Ball (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, keyboards, synthesizers); Robbie McIntosh, Steve Ferrone (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Ben E. King (vocals).
Producers include: Arif Mardin, Jerry Greenberg, Average White Band, Gene Paul, David Foster.
Compilation producers: David McLees, Bill Inglot.
Recorded between 1974 & 1980. Includes liner notes by A. Scott Galloway.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Indisputably the finest Scottish funk act of the 1970s (or any decade), the Average White Band is well represented by this excellent 18-track collection, which focuses heavily on the group's mid-'70s heyday. Highlights include the immediately recognizable groove-laden hit "Pick Up the Pieces," along with other top-notch, dance-floor-packing tunes such as "Got the Love" and "Cut the Cake."
Anyone who is seriously interested in '70s soul and funk should own at least three or four Average White Band albums. But if a person insists on allotting himself/herself only one AWB CD, this is the logical choice. All of the essential hits -- everything from the sweaty funk of "Cut the Cake," "Pick Up the Pieces," and "School Boy Crush" to the unapologetically romantic "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" -- are included. Though most of the selections were recorded when AWB was still very much in its prime, a few were made after the Scottish band had peaked. "Let's Go 'Round Again" (1980) finds AWB taking a glossy pop/disco approach that's hardly in a class with its earlier triumphs, but is likable enough. Most of the selections, however, aren't simply decent; they are excellent. ~ Alex Henderson