Pick Up The Pieces – Average White Band (1974)

“Pick Up The Pieces” was a 1974 song by the Average White Band from their second album, “AWB”. The principal composer of the track was founding member and saxophonist Roger Ball. It was the group’s most successful song, and features one of the most recognizable grooves in funk music. It is essentially an instrumental, apart from the song’s title being shouted at several points in the song. “Pick Up The Pieces” was first released in the United Kingdom in July 1974 but failed to make an impression on the charts. When the entire album was released in the United States in October 1974, radio stations started to pick up on the song, and on 22 February 1975, it went to the top of the US singles chart and peaked at number five on the soul charts. After its US success, the song charted in the UK and climbed to number six. “Pick Up The Pieces” also made it to number eleven on the US disco chart. Average White Band (also known as AWB) is a Scottish funk and R&B band, who had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. AWB was formed in early 1972 by Alan Gorrie (born 19 July 1946, Perth, Scotland) and Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan (born 24 August 1945, Montrose, Scotland), with Owen ‘Onnie’ McIntyre (born 25 September 1945, Lennoxtown, Scotland), Hamish Stuart (born 8 October 1949, Glasgow, Scotland), Roger Ball (born 4 June 1944, Broughty Ferry, Scotland) and Robbie McIntosh (born 6 May 1950, Dundee, Scotland — died 23 September 1974) joining them in the original line-up. The …