Fifty Years Of AWB (aka White Album)

Tiggerlion on AWB by Average White Band released August 1974

Average White Band came from Scotland, pairs of them playing in different bands interweaving in a soul scene of the late sixties and seventies spearheaded by “the godfather of Dundee soul”, Dougie Martin. They moved separately to London, seeking fame and fortune, and bumped into each other at a Traffic gig. When they jammed together, a friend said, “This is too much for the average white man” and a brand was formed. The ‘this’ was funk, a syncopated, rhythmic groove with subtextures, complexity and personality, derived from Afro-Caribbean dance music. Funk had been officially invented by James Brown in the sixties and was almost exclusively played by black bands. With their translucent skin, rubbish facial hair, some of it flaming red, and an insipid sense of dress, Average White Band looked the antithesis of cool and funky. But, they could play. The key performer is the drummer. Robbie McIntosh, who worked professionally as a teenager, brought the groove and a lot of the personality. He obsessed over Melvin Parker, who played on Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, and wouldn’t play if he didn’t consider it funky. He loved to party, he loved to laugh and, in a band with two lead singers and several songwriters, he was the magnetic force that held them together.

Alan Gorrie, from Perth, brought a sweet soulful voice and a strutting bass. Hamish Stuart’s Glaswegian voice was gritty and heartfelt but was also capable of a strong falsetto, his guitar chika-chank-choking with Onnie McIntyre, whose guitar rang like a bell. The Dundee Horns of Roger Ball and Molly Duncan added a deep, rich, melodious texture to the mix. The chemistry in the band created a bond that was most powerful when playing live. It was a tape recording of a live rehearsal that set them on their way. Bonnie Bramlett heard the tape and loved it. She’d split from Delaney and needed a band to record her first solo album. Average White Band were flown to LA for their baptism in the music business. Freddie from The Family Stone dropped by, Joe Sample of The Crusaders said hello, Bobby Womack contributed guitar to one track and Lowell George played slide on another. They were exposed to the writing talents of Dan Penn and Leon Ware and came back to London laden with LPs full of music to inspire them.

Bramlett’s connection with Eric Clapton resulted in them being booked as support for his comeback gig at The Rainbow 13th January 1973. Average White Band put in a sparkling performance, drew rave reviews and won a contract with MCA. The debut album, Show Your Hand, represents a band finding its feet but MCA released it through its European arm when it was better suited to America. It attracted curiosity and interest rather than the exchange of money. Average White Band made a decision to move to the USA to record their follow up but MCA were unhappy with the product. The band heard Jerry Wexler was in town, arranged a meeting, played him their tape and found themselves signed to Atlantic, recording in Miami Criteria Studios with Arif Mardin as producer. They knew they were on the right track when they walked in to the studio and found Aretha Franklin singing and playing the piano. To record their songs properly, they moved to Atlantic Studios in New York to be engineered by Gene Paul, Les’s son. Average White Band were living their dream.

You Got It is the sound of a band in clover, in a major key. Its opening bursts with sunshine, the tempo on the front foot and the horns exuberant. The two main vocalists work in synergy, harmonising and enhancing each other. It’s a song, written to order, overflowing with confidence. Arif Mardin had demanded two new songs in addition to ones they had recorded in Clover Studios for MCA. Lyrically, it is an extraordinarily persuasive plea for a relationship and musically so enthusiastic, it’s impossible to imagine her saying no. Most of all, the performance has a unity of purpose, a blazing statement of intent, a band playing bone fide Soul music together, not simply a foil for a charismatic frontman. It’s the perfect introduction to the album, seducing the listener to fully engage within a matter of seconds.

Got The Love brings the funk, Robbie McIntosh flourishing his multi-loose-limbed shuffle, the guitars on the upstroke. It’s the kind of rhythm that gets every part of the body moving. The horn chart is magnificent. In the middle section, instead of simply echoing the melody, they rev like a formula one car, giving the rhythm extra momentum. With a platform like that, Hamish Stuart simply has to deliver, and he responds in his purest high voice, bordering on falsetto, the oohs and moans as expressive as any of the words.

Pick Up The Pieces is derived from the band messing about with a Ball horn riff in shabby, obscure rehearsal rooms. Stuart added a prominent guitar part but every musician contributed. In the intro, a guitar rings out a warning, a cymbal taps, the horns’ hook digs deep and the band are immediately locked into an irresistibly compact groove. The bass is vibrant, the guitars are fierce, the horn hooks are relentless and Duncan plays a fiery, jazzy sax break. There are just five words, the title and “alright!” Pick Up The Pieces is a record that taps into a life spark, the kind that lights up the dance floor.

Person To Person is the tightest track on the album. Every instrument adds light and shade, texture and colour, without any dominating. It’s a true ensemble performance of a group of musicians serving a song, a collective working together to provide the perfect base for an outstanding Stuart vocal. The lyrics are tethered to the days when telephone handpieces had a lead, an impassioned Stuart groaning and yearning for his lover on the other side of the world, soaring ecstatically in the last half minute. He stakes a claim to be the best blue-eyed Soul singer ever.

In the hands of The Isley Brothers, Work To Do is efficient, competent and, well, workmanlike. Two years on, Average White Band’s cover is inspired. The Dundee Horns are beefed up by the addition of the Brecker brothers, Michael and Randy, plus three others. McIntyre ups the energy several notches, Gorrie does a great impersonation of Ronnie Isley, and paired with Stuart, they out sing the three brothers. The guitar indulges in a celebratory solo. Average White Band make hard work sound like fun. They sound so happy as a collective, it’s as though they are playing for just themselves. By enriching the horns, strengthening the beat and lightening the mood, they outdo the original in every aspect.

Side two dials down the funk but ups the romance. Four of the five are unashamed love songs. They avoid cliché by writing in their natural plain-speaking Scot. The music bounces with a lightness of heart that falling in love brings. The musicians touch is assured, gentle and perfect for each song. Nothing You Can Do is underscored by a tender Ball electric piano as Gorrie and Stuart exchange lines of unconditional love, punctuated by some unfussy horns. Just Want To Love You Tonight is an even more delicate duet. The song is essentially a beg for sex before a long trip apart, sung by two men taking turns to embody one person. However, the vocals are so impassioned, so sincere and sung with such conviction, the listener and the target of the affection must forgive them. The guitars and horns bring the lights down low, and the rhythm section remains subtle, but it’s the addition of Ken Buchel’s fragrant mellotron seals the deal.

Keepin’ It To Myself is as cosy and as wholesome as a snuggle on a sofa with a steaming mug of cocoa. Gorrie uses his softer tones to caress a melody that floats along on Duncan’s dreamy alto sax. However, the lyrics are bitter over a love that isn’t what it seems to be. It turns out that a burned Gorrie is a gorgeous sounding one. I Just Can’t Give You Up is a direct contrast, bright, positive, a song unabashed, declaring love. It is a could-be single with a tasty guitar solo and radio-friendly demeanour. Stuart is the sole writer, lead singer and provider of the solo, but it’s a true collective performance, the horns delivering a hearty hook, the bass and drums a sinewy upbeat, and the backing vocals lifting the mood.

A sour note creeps in at the very end. Gorrie’s bitterness in Keepin’ It To Myself festers into a paranoia on There Is Always Someone Waiting, not just about future love prospects but also neighbours, friends, business agents. The horns fall silent. The rhythm guitar stabs repeatedly, synthesiser keyboards draw a dark veil, wah-wah guitar picks at the holes, and supporting voices point fingers, “Who? Who?” The effect heightens the senses, putting the listener on alert. It is the most edgy and unsettling track on the whole album but it is an effective conclusion, helping to display the breadth of Average White Band’s talent.

Average White Band were a band of brothers who bonded in the sweaty clubs of Scotland because they shared a dream, a romantic dream, an American dream. They were genuine believers in the power of Soul music. They honed their craft over thousands of hours in rehearsals rooms and on dusty stages, playing together, so they became both tight and loose, understanding each other’s foibles instinctively. In America, they found their tribe. They were a British act that first achieved success in America before being recognised at home, the ultimate outsiders operating in a different continent and an alien genre. They were feted and adored. Their gigs were sold out. The rich and famous wanted to be seen with them. They had a single creating a stir and an album in the shops. On the cusp of glory, tragedy struck.

At a party following a euphoric concert at The Troubadour, Los Angeles, McIntosh and Gorrie took what they thought was cocaine but turned out to be heroin. Perhaps they flew too close to the sun. If they did so, it wasn’t through arrogance or hubris. More likely, they naively got carried away by the rarefied air they were in and became reckless. The singer and Hollywood actress, Cher, kept Gorrie from drifting into a coma until medical help arrived. McIntosh, the pulsing heart of Average White Band, died at the age of twenty-four on the 23rd September 1974. He lived long enough to hold this record in his hands but not to enjoy its success. Kenneth Moss, the host of the party, plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 120 days in prison and four years probation.

Soul music was evolving in 1974. The germs of Disco were taking hold. Funk and Black Consciousness were mainstream. Average White Band combine the flexibility of Earth, Wind & Fire with the smooth songcraft of Smokey Robinson. For Soul music, the apex of the album as a medium was in the mid seventies, and AWB was right up there with the very best. The album and its jubilant funky single were slow burners. By the time they were reaching the top of the Billboard charts, they were sharing radio plays with That’s The Way Of The World and A Quiet Storm. In February 1975, the LP hit the very top and Pick Up The Pieces became that rare beast, an instrumental American number one. There have been just twenty-five instrumentals topping the US chart, but five were dance tracks in 1974 & 1975: Love Unlimited Orchestra, MFSB, Van McCoy and Silver Convention are the other four. Nevertheless, the band were surprised to see it released as the single. It took a while for DJs to take notice, but it dominated the early 1975 airwaves. James Brown, no less, was impressed. Either that, or he was annoyed they’d ripped off Hot Pants Road. The JBs, under the name AABB (Above Average Black Band) scored with Pick Up The Pieces, One By One, including the expense of a string section. It was a proud moment for the boys from Scotland, regardless of the motivation.

Al Gorrie came up with the idea for the cover, drawn by Tim Bruckner, a blonde woman viewed from the back, her naked body nestling into the curves of the W in AWB. It was sufficiently eyecatching to become the band’s logo, but the image is really very demure compared to, say, Ohio Players, whose album sleeves border on soft porn. Fire, their 1974 album, is as good an example as any. Average White Band understood their limits. Their Caledonian funk was pure and clean, not dirty and greasy like some of the American bands at the time.

Encouraged to soldier on by their label, McIntyre’s seat was taken by his good friend Steve Ferrone, who spoiled the brand somewhat by being a Londoner. The band was fractured in grief but, somehow, the next two albums solidified their success, Cut The Cake and Soul Searching making the US top ten and the attendant singles top forty. They continued to create excellent records and sell out tours until they split up in 1983, but nothing ever matched AWB. The live albums Person To Person and Live At Montreux, capturing their tour as The Atlantic Family, confirmed their musical prowess. On the latter album, Pick Up The Pieces, a track born in penury, becomes a twenty minute purgative tribute to their friend. Over time, it developed the power to heal. As Hamish Stuart said, “It took us years to get over losing him. We were literally picking up the pieces. It went from being a song about being skint to being a song about Robbie.” To celebrate the 50th anniversary of AWB, Demon Records issued Live At The Rainbow, 1974 on Record Store Day, McIntyre prominent in the mix. It reveals exactly why he was so missed and why Bramlett, Clapton, Wexler, Mardin and the likes of Jack Nicholson were so impressed when they heard them live.

AWB is an album that glows with positivity and the promise of youth, without a care in the world, united in their love for soul and funk. It is delivered by a band of optimistic young men with hope in their hearts, a hope that is not extinguished by the tragedy associated with it. Decades later, it is still an album to help us come through the night and greet a new day with a smile. Play it on repeat, over and over. Luxuriate in its pleasures. AWB is as nourishing for the soul as it is possible for music to be.

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