Average White Band

Profile:
Original Members:
Alan Gorrie (b. 19th July 1946, Perth, Scotland; bass, vocals); Mike Rosen (trumpet, guitar); replaced by Hamish Stuart (b. 8th October 1949, Glasgow, Scotland; guitar, vocals); Owen 'Onnie' McIntyre (b. 25th September 1945, Lennoxtown, Scotland; guitar); Malcolm 'Mollie' Duncan (b. 24th August 1945, Montrose, Scotland; saxophone); Roger Ball (b. 4th June 1944, Broughty Ferry, Scotland; saxophone, keyboards); Robbie McIntosh (b. 6th May 1950, Dundee, Scotland, d. 23 September 1974, Hollywood, U.S.A; drums).

History:
This unique act, an R'n'B/ soul group from Scotland and originally with no black musicians became one of the best selling and sounding funk bands in the world. The horn section started out as "The Dundee Horns". They can be heard on Johnny Nash's reggae hit "I Can See Clearly Now".
Eric Clapton and Bonnie Bramlett (of Delaney & Bonnie) helped them on their way to becoming a household name. But it wasn't until they reached the US and were signed to Atlantic Records that the Average White Band really took off (Jerry Wexler signed them on the spot, after they hit him at home on one of his parties, where they played him the basic tracks for what would become the White Album: "AWB").
Arif Mardin became their producer and together they couldn't do wrong. All of their seventies albums reached gold or even platinum status and hits such as the timeless "Pick Up The Pieces" and "Cut The Cake" were number 1 hits on the U.S. Billboard Charts.
Tragedy hit the young group in 1974 when their drummer, Robbie McIntosh died at a Hollywood party in a drug-related incident, but their act only became stronger. It was after Robbie's death, Steve Ferrone joined to replace Robbie on drums, and was the only black musician in band, it was a standing joke in the band that they 'played' with the press because of their band name.
The Double album "Person To Person", recorded during their American 1975 Tour, is among the best selling live funk albums ever.
They reached the white market with their unique sound without losing respect from the core Soul/ R'n'B lover in the black communities.
Sites:
Members:
Variations:

Artist

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Albums

MUPS 486 Show Your Hand — Average White Band The Average White Band* Show Your Hand (Album) MCA Records MUPS 486 UK 1973 Sell This Version
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SD 7308 AWB — Average White Band Average White Band AWB (Album) Atlantic SD 7308 Canada 1974 Sell This Version
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CN 2163/S Stereo Pop Special-82 — Average White Band Average White Band Stereo Pop Special-82(LP, Transcription) BBC Transcription Services CN 2163/S UK 1974 Sell This Version
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SD 18140 Cut The Cake — Average White Band Average White Band Cut The Cake (Album) Atlantic SD 18140 Canada 1975 Sell This Version
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none Nightbird & Company: Cosmic Connections Presented By The US Army Reserve — Average White Band Steppenwolf / Claire Hamill / Average White Band / Hello People Steppenwolf / Claire Hamill / Average White Band / Hello People - Nightbird & Company: Cosmic Connections Presented By The US Army Reserve(2xLP, Transcription) Army Reserve none US 1975 Sell This Version
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ATL 60127, SD 2-1002 Person To Person — Average White Band Average White Band Person To Person (Album) Atlantic ATL 60127, SD 2-1002 Netherlands 1976 Sell This Version
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SD 18179, 30.000 Soul Searching — Average White Band Average White Band Soul Searching (Album) Atlantic SD 18179, 30.000 Brazil 1976 Sell This Version
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ATL 50 384-U, SD 19105 Benny And Us — Average White Band Average White Band & Ben E. King Average White Band & Ben E. King - Benny And Us (Album) Atlantic ATL 50 384-U, SD 19105 Germany 1977 Sell This Version
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75151, 75152 Nightbird & Company: Cosmic Connections — Average White Band Average White Band / Hubert Laws / Climax Blues Band / Thin Lizzy Average White Band / Hubert Laws / Climax Blues Band / Thin Lizzy - Nightbird & Company: Cosmic Connections(2xLP, Transcription) Army Reserve, Army Reserve 75151, 75152 US 1977 Sell This Version
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SD 19162 Warmer Communications — Average White Band Average White Band Warmer Communications (Album) Atlantic, Atlantic SD 19162 Canada 1978 Sell This Version
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SD 19207 Feel No Fret — Average White Band Average White Band Feel No Fret (Album, Comp) Atlantic SD 19207 US 1979 Sell This Version
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CN 3286/S In Concert-195 — Average White Band Average White Band In Concert-195(LP, Transcription) BBC Transcription Services CN 3286/S UK 1979 Sell This Version
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RVP-6478 Shine — Average White Band Average White Band Shine (Album) Arista RVP-6478 Japan 1980 Sell This Version
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AL 9594 Cupid's In Fashion — Average White Band Average White Band Cupid's In Fashion (Album, Comp) RCA, RCA AL 9594 US 1982 Sell This Version
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P.I.M. 57 Pioneers In Music Show #57 — Average White Band Alvin Lee / Average White Band / Atlanta Rhythm Section / Foghat Alvin Lee / Average White Band / Atlanta Rhythm Section / Foghat - Pioneers In Music Show #57(LP, Transcription + LP, S/Sided, Transcription) DIR Broadcasting P.I.M. 57 US 1986 Sell This Version
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552.1 Aftershock — Average White Band Average White Band Aftershock (Album) Track Record Company 552.1 Netherlands 1988 Sell This Version
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WHISCD005 Live On The Test — Average White Band Average White Band Live On The Test(CD, Album) Windsong International WHISCD005 UK 1994 Sell This Version
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SPV 076-33752 Soul Tattoo — Average White Band Average White Band Soul Tattoo (Album) SPV Recordings SPV 076-33752 Germany 1996 Sell This Version
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MMPCD002 Face To Face Live — Average White Band Average White Band Face To Face Live (Album, Comp) EMI-Capitol Special Markets MMPCD002 UK 1999 Sell This Version
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none Living In Colour — Average White Band Average White Band Living In Colour (Album) William Morris Agency none USA & Canada 2003 Sell This Version
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none Soul & The City — Average White Band Average White Band Soul & The City(CD, Album) AWB Music none US 2006 Sell This Version
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A 687164 Standing Room Only — Average White Band Average White Band Standing Room Only(CD, Album) Sony BMG Music Entertainment A 687164 US 2007 Sell This Version
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EAGCD449, GAS 0000449 EAG Live At Montreux 1977 — Average White Band Average White Band Live At Montreux 1977 (Album) Eagle Records EAGCD449, GAS 0000449 EAG Germany 2011 Sell This Version
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SFMCD261 ... Times Squared ... Live From New York ... — Average White Band Average White Band ... Times Squared ... Live From New York ... (Album) The Store For Music SFMCD261 UK 2013 Sell This Version
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DEMREC82 Access All Areas  — Average White Band Average White Band Access All Areas Demon Records DEMREC82 UK 2015 Sell This Version

Add Review

jussumen

jussumen

September 5, 2007
This unique act, a R'nB/Soul Group from Scotland with only 2 black musicians became one of the best selling and sounding Funk Bands in the world. If this reminds you of UB 40 in Reggae, you do them wrong. Their Sound is 100 % REAL.
The Horn Section started out as "The Dundee Horns" and can be heard on Johnny Nash's Mega Reggae Hit "I Can See Clearly Now" among others.
Eric Clapton and Bonny Bramlet (of Delaney & Bonnie) are other Mega Stars to help them on their way of becoming a household name. But it wasn't until they reached the US and got signed by Jerry Wexler on the spot to Atlantic Records, after they hit him at home on of his Partys and played them the basic tracks for what would become the "White" album "AWB", that the Average White Band really took of.
Arif Marden became their producer and together they couldn't do wrong. All of their 70ies Albums reached Gold or even Platinum Status and Hits as the timeless "Pick Up The Pieces" or "Cut The Cake" were No 1 Hits. Tragic hit the young group when their drummer died at a Hollywood party in a drug-related accident.
But their act only became stronger. The Double album "Person To Person" recorded
during their american Tour is (besides Earth, Wind & Fire's - "Gratitude") the most important and widely sold Funk Live Album in the world. They reached the white market with their unique Sound without losing credit with the core Soul / R'nB Lover in the black communities.
jussumen

jussumen

February 27, 2004
agree with jairinho . This was the 'realest' Funk Band of the 70ies , reminding me of Earth,Wind & Fire. Both had very good and sucessful Live Do-albums out from their fantastic 1974 Live-tours . 'Pick up The Pieces', their biggest Hit and arguably best song will remain a classic . Tragedy hit the black + white band-members when their drummer died at a posh Hollywod Party , where he sniffed a huge white line , thinking it be Charly , but was indeed Thai-No4 , the purest Heroin . Even attempts by such famous celebrities as CHER taking him around for a walk , so he wouldn't fall aslepp for good ,were fruitless. The band did play on for a while with a different drummer , but never recovered from this shock and disappeared from the scene.
Jairinho

Jairinho

May 22, 2003
Looking at that picture above, you may think that's another average "rock" band but think again. I strongly recommend your hear songs like "The One", "Tell Me Something Good" or "School Boy Crush". You'll see these guys aren't another 'average white band'.

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