In spite of their name, The Average White Band (AWB) was that rarest of musical species: a band out of Scotland that specialized in R&B funk. This high-spirited instrumental (the only lyrics being the occasional chanting of the song's title) was their signature tune.
The Average White Band formed in 1972 and released their first album, Show Your Hand, the following year. After it failed to break through, the group shortened its name to AWB and released a self-titled album in 1974. This song from that album not only broke through, but became a surprise #1 hit in the US, catapulting AWB to stardom almost overnight.
Later in 1974, drummer and founding member Robbie McIntosh died of a drug overdose at a Hollywood party. After recruiting a their new drummer, AWB would have 3 more Top 40 hits in the mid-1970s (including one more Top 10 with "Cut The Cake") and eventually revert to their original, full name, but would slowly decline both creatively and commercially before disbanding in 1982. Since then, Average White Band has reunited for the occasional obscure album and/or tour. In 2005 they re-recorded "Pick Up The Pieces" along with several other of their older songs for a CD titled Greatest And Latest.
The original version of this song has been sampled by a number of rap and hip-hop artists, and has also often been played at sporting events.
The song began as a straight-up homage. "'Pick Up The Pieces' was our tribute to James Brown and the JB's," bassist and guitarist Alan Gorrie told
Uncut magazine. "That was all it was ever intended to be on the album we were making at the time."
The ultimate validation came when The J.B.'s recorded their own response track, "
Pick Up The Pieces One By One," credited to the Above Average Black Band; a gesture AWB took as the highest possible compliment
Determined to prove themselves "in the crucible of soul," AWB decamped to Los Angeles, bunking in an empty Hollywood house loaned to them by an MCA executive. They soundproofed the living room and treated it like a workshop, writing new material from scratch every day. One morning, Gorrie woke up to Hamish Stuart's guitar phrase echoing through the house. Robbie McIntosh soon joined in on drums, prompting Gorrie to grab his bass and jump in. That impromptu jam became the foundation of "Pick Up The Pieces."
The groove developed gradually over the course of the day. Saxophonist Roger Ball, who had been staying elsewhere, returned the next day with the song's now-iconic horn line. The arrangement came together almost instinctively, with each player layering in parts. Guitarist Onnie McIntyre repurposed a guitar figure he'd used before, which became the song's intro.
The raised ninth chord that opens the track was a happy accident. The band liked its bell-like tone and decided it was the perfect way to launch the song. From the outset everyone knew it was destined to be an instrumental.
Finding a title took longer. "I was thinking of the JB's song, 'Pass the Peas,' said Gorrie. "I threw the idea at Hamish saying I was looking for something alliterative, and he came up with 'Pick Up The Pieces.' We put in a chant, a couple of those. Roger was skeptical, but we felt it helped establish another hook."
Stuart credits Dick Clark's American Bandstand with giving the song an extra push. Each year, the show held a televised dance contest, and that season many of the couples chose "Pick Up The Pieces," giving the band repeated national exposure on TV as well as radio.
Over the years, the song has enjoyed a long afterlife in films. Stuart said his favorite use was in Swingers, during a scene of friends strutting through a parking lot. His least favorite? Superman II. The band attended the screening expecting a big moment, only to hear the song faintly playing on a jukebox during a bar fight, drowned out by punches. "Very deflating," Stuart said, though, as he noted, they still got paid the same.
