Average White Band

The Average White Band's derivative but convincing funk crossed the Atlantic and the color line, heralding the arrival of disco in the mid-'70s. Each of the members had been active in various English and Scottish bands before Alan Gorrie founded the group. Robbie McIntosh had been with Brian Auger's Oblivion Express; Roger Ball and Malcolm Duncan had been members of the Dundee Horns. After opening for Eric Clapton at his January 1973 Rainbow Theatre comeback concert, they released an unnoticed debut album. The next year they began abbreviating the band name as AWB, and a 1974 album produced by Arif Mardin yielded a Grammy Award–winning disco hit, "Pick Up the Pieces" (#1, 1975). The group was shaken by drummer McIntosh's death from accidental heroin poisoning at a Hollywood party but regrouped for a second gold album, Cut the Cake (which it dedicated to McIntosh). Put It Where You Want It is a rerelease of their debut album. Benny and Us featured soul singer Ben E. King.

After 1975, AWB began recording together less often while its members worked as sidemen, including backup work for Chaka Khan in 1978. Gorrie, Ferrone, and Stuart recorded as Easy Pieces, with Renee Geyer. Ferrone later played drums for Duran Duran, and Stuart joined Paul McCartney’s band for Flowers in the Dirt and his subsequent tour. In 1989, Gorrie, McIntyre, and Ball enlisted vocalist Alex Ligertwood and re-formed the AWB. The group continued to perform (and to a lesser extent, record) in the ’90s. Meanwhile, in 2000, the Hamish Stuart Band released the album Sooner or Later.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon& Schuster, 2001)