Hello, more sloppy 'attacks' on oiltankers-that really didn't do much damage at all, but hey the warmongers in the US and Saudi Arabia seek a reason to unleash their rockets on Iran and as there are creeps running the white house and an proven killer running the Saudis expect the Middle east set alight soon. In the end Iran will win but it could take many decades and millions of deaths before the last Saudi prince has been decapitated and that nasty country and their religious Wahabi fanatics is raised to the ground. Meanwhile in the UK the Tories are about to chose a PM, obviously the greatest chances are for their in house clown Boris Johnson, who is kept away from the press because of his known tendency to produce one gaff after another. Let's see how the EU deals with that idiot. Not. Good thing the UK elite has so much money stashed away, they'll survive the mess the country awaits. But who knows Scotland might leave and Northern Ireland might vote to unify with Ireland, and England will be sold to the US in Trumps greatest deal ever......
Today's Artists are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track "Pick Up the Pieces", and their albums AWB and Cut the Cake. . ...... N Joy
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The Average White Band (also AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track "Pick Up the Pieces", and their albums AWB and Cut the Cake. The band name was initially proposed by Bonnie Bramlett; the band backed Bramlett on her first solo outing, 1973's Sweet Bonnie Bramlett, an album that presaged the Disco movement, particularly with the track Crazy 'Bout My Baby played heavily in dance clubs. They have influenced others such as the Brand New Heavies, and been sampled by various musicians including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, TLC, The Beatnuts, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, and A Tribe Called Quest, Christina Milian, as well as Arrested Development – making them the 15th most sampled act in history. As of 2018, 46 years after their formation, they continue to perform.
AWB was formed in early 1972 in London by Alan Gorrie, and Malcolm "Molly" Duncan, with Owen "Onnie" McIntyre, Michael Rosen (trumpet), Roger Ball, and Robbie McIntosh joining them in the original line-up. Hamish Stuart quickly replaced Rosen. Duncan and Ball, affectionately known as the Dundee Horns, studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art (now part of the University of Dundee, but which at the time was part of the Dundee Institute of Art and Technology, now known as Abertay University), and were previously members of Mogul Thrash. Gorrie and McIntyre had been members of Forever More. McIntyre and McIntosh were used as session musicians on Chuck Berry's recording of "My Ding-a-Ling". According to Duncan, members of the band had played together before in Scotland, but had moved to London separately and met up by chance at a Traffic concert. They decided to jam together; a friend heard them and remarked: "This is too much for the average white man," which became adapted as the name of the band.
The band's breakthrough was a support slot at Eric Clapton's comeback concert in 1973. MCA Records released their debut album, Show Your Hand (1973), which sold poorly. Bruce McCaskill, who was Clapton's tour manager, liked the band's music and agreed to manage them. He borrowed money to take them to the US and to promote them. McCaskill had many contacts from his days with Clapton and managed to get Atlantic Records to sign them. The band relocated to Los Angeles and released the follow-up, AWB, better known as The White Album. It reached No. 1 and was the first of many with renowned producer Arif Mardin.
McIntosh died of a heroin overdose at a Los Angeles party on 23 September 1974. Gorrie also overdosed, but Cher kept him conscious until medical help arrived. The NME reported in January 1975 that AWB played a benefit show for McIntosh's widow at the Marquee Club in London. McIntosh was replaced by Steve Ferrone (previously of Bloodstone), and, like McIntosh, previously with Brian Auger's Oblivion Express. In 1975, the single "Pick Up the Pieces" – taken from the No. 1 AWB album – reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song knocked Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good" out of No. 1 and sold over one million copies. It was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1975. It also prompted The J.B.'s, the backup band of the "Godfather of Soul", James Brown, to record and release a song in reply, "Pick Up the Pieces, One by One", under the name AABB (Above Average Black Band). It was both a tribute to AWB's knowledge of funk and a tongue-in-cheek play on the Scottish band's name.
AWB followed up with the LPs Cut the Cake (1975) and Soul Searching (1976), both big sellers and yielding further Top 40 singles. Cut the Cake was dedicated by the surviving band members to McIntosh's memory. A double live album "Person To Person" was issued in late 1976. Their next LP, Benny & Us, was a collaboration with Ben E. King. After several more albums, "Warmer Communications" (1978), "Feel No Fret" (1979) and after a switch to the U.S. Arista label, "Shine" (1980) and "Cupid's In Fashion" (1982), AWB's audience and sales dwindled. The group initially disbanded by 1983. Their 1980 disco hit "Let's Go Round Again" (UK No. 12), was covered in the late 1990s by Louise.
Ferrone went on to work with Duran Duran whilst Hamish Stuart joined Paul McCartney's touring group. In 1985 Gorrie released a solo album, Sleepless Nights.
The classic lineup of Gorrie, McIntyre, Ball, Stuart, Duncan and Ferrone reunited for one last time at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary in 1988. Gorrie, McIntyre, and Ball then continued in 1989 to record Aftershock. Alex Ligertwood (ex-Santana, Jeff Beck Group and another veteran of Brian Auger's Oblivion Express) also appeared on this album, replacing lead singer Hamish Stuart, along with Eliot Lewis who co-wrote with Gorrie and joined the band. Ligertwood left after the album's recording and drummer Tiger McNeil joined for the reunited band's live shows. McNeil was with the group until 1994. He was then succeeded by Peter Abbott (ex-Blood Sweat and Tears), who in turn was replaced by Fred "Catfish" Alias in September 1998. Drummer Adam Deitch did a two-year stint with AWB from 1999 to 2001.
Average White Band has continued recording (1997's Soul Tattoo, 1999's Face to Face) and touring since. Ball worked on Soul Tattoo with the group but was replaced by Fred Vigdor (aka Freddy V.) in 1996. Brian Dunne took over the drum chair in 2001 and when Eliot Lewis left the band in September 2002 to pursue other musical opportunities (including a stint with Hall and Oates), he was replaced by Klyde Jones. Their line-up as of 2002 became Alan Gorrie (bass guitar, guitar, lead and backing vocals), Klyde Jones (keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, lead and backing vocals), Onnie McIntyre (guitar, vocals), Freddy V (sax, keyboards, vocals), and Brian Dunne (drums).
Dunne was replaced by Rocky Bryant as drummer as of the 2006 tour. After Jones left in 2011 to join Hall and Oates, Monte Croft (keyboards, bass, guitar) and former Earth Wind and Fire member Morris Pleasure (keyboards, bass, guitar) came in to do brief stints before Rob Aries arrived in 2013. Brent Carter (ex-Tower of Power) has been singing with AWB since 2011.
In July 2015, Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan, Steve Ferrone and Hamish Stuart reunited to form The 360 Band. This is in essence one half of the original AWB. They released an album titled "Three Sixty" in 2017 and have been performing live together along with supporting musicians. As of 2019, Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre are the only two original members left in the Average White Band.
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Show Your Hand was where it all began for the Average White Band, which turned out to be one of the hottest funk/soul outfits of the mid- to late '70s. But when MCA released this debut LP in 1973, the band's commercial success was still a year away -- it wasn't until they joined the Atlantic roster in 1974 that they exploded commercially. Show Your Hand, in fact, was among 1973's neglected R&B releases. In retrospect, it's easy to point the finger at MCA and say, "You dropped the ball; this album should have done better." Atlantic successfully broke AWB in 1974, so why weren't MCA's promotions and marketing people able to accomplish that the previous year? But in all fairness to MCA, breaking AWB was a challenge -- imagine trying to convince '70s soul stations that a white band from Scotland played first-class funk and soul. Back in 1973, a lot of program directors at R&B stations probably took one look at this LP and assumed that AWB was a rock band; it took Atlantic to convince those programmers that the name Average White Band was meant to be ironic. Of course, anyone who gave Show Your Hand a serious listen in 1973 realized that AWB certainly wasn't typical of the era's long-haired white bands -- stylistically, they inspired comparisons to the Isley Brothers and Tower of Power, not Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, or Mahogany Rush. Whether AWB is turning up the funk on "T.L.C." or chilling out on the smooth soul of "Twilight Zone," there is no getting around the fact that Show Your Hand is very much an R&B album. Show Your Hand (which MCA reissued as Put It Where You Want It in 1975) never became as well-known as AWB's subsequent recordings for Atlantic, but that doesn't make it any less impressive a debut for Hamish Stuart and his colleagues.
Average White Band - Show Your Hand (flac 274mb)
01 Jugglers 4:51
02 This World Has Music 5:57
03 Twilight Zone 5:28
04 Put It Where You Want It 5:15
05 Show Your Hand 4:28
06 Back In '67 4:10
07 Reach Out 4:04
08 T.L.C. 8:08
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
After debuting with 1973's excellent but neglected Show Your Hand (later reissued as Put It Where You Want It), the Average White Band switched from MCA to Atlantic and hit big with this self-titled gem. Upon first hearing gutsy, Tower of Power-influenced funk like "Person to Person" and the instrumental "Pick Up the Pieces" (a number one R&B hit), many soul fans were shocked to learn that not only were the bandmembers white -- they were whites from Scotland. Like Teena Marie five years later, AWB embraced soul and funk with so much conviction that it was clear this was anything but an "average" white band. This album is full of treasures that weren't big hits but should have been -- including the addictive "You Got It," the ominous "There's Always Someone Waiting," and a gutsy remake of the Isley Brothers' "Work to Do."
Average White Band - AWB (flac 276mb)
01 You Got It 3:31
02 Got The Love 3:47
03 Pick Up The Pieces 3:55
04 Person To Person 3:36
05 Work To Do 4:20
06 Nothing You Can Do 4:04
07 I Just Wanna Love You Tonight 3:55
08 Keepin' It To Myself 3:56
09 I Just Can't Give You Up 3:26
10 There's Always Someone Waiting 5:28
xxxxx
Average White Band - Clover Sessions (flac 464mb)
01 Person To Person 3:23
02 Keepin' It To Myself 3:10
03 There's Always Someone Waiting 5:02
04 McEwans's Export 4:48
05 Got The Love 3:42
06 Work To Do 3:42
07 Just Want To Love You Tonight 4:43
08 Pick Up The Pieces 3:56
09 I Just Can't Give You Up 3:46
10 How Sweet Can You Get? (First Version) 3:42
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When the Average White Band recorded their debut album, Show Your Hand, for MCA in 1973, they had yet to become well known. But their second album (and first for Atlantic) made them huge -- and in 1975, MCA tried to cash in by reissuing Show Your Hand as Put It Where You Want It. Although Put It Where You Want It offered different artwork, the two LPs aren't much different in terms of material. "The Jugglers," which opened Show Your Hand, was replaced with a new opener: the previously unreleased "How Can You Go Home." But except for the opening track, the two LPs contained the same material in the same order; Put It Where You Want It is essentially Show Your Hand with a new cover, a new title, and a new opening track -- and whatever you call this collection of pre-Atlantic material, it was an impressive start for the Average White Band. So why isn't Put It Where You Want It -- or Show Your Hand, if you prefer -- as well known as their Atlantic recordings? It all comes down to marketing. Thanks to producer Arif Mardin, AWB received a much more aggressive promotional campaign than they got from MCA. Nonetheless, AWB's truly hardcore, truly devoted fans speak highly of this album. They'll tell you that the band shows a great deal of promise on the gritty funk of "T.L.C." and "Put It Where You Want It" as well as softer items like "Show Your Hand" and the melancholy "Twilight Zone." While Put It Where You Want It (aka Show Your Hand) is hardly AWB's most famous album and didn't contain a major hit single, it was still a promising debut for the Scottish soul-funk outfit.
Average White Band - Put It Where You Want It (flac 326mb)
01 How Can You Go Home 3:08
02 This World Has Music 5:53
03 Twilight Zone 5:25
04 Put It Where You Want It 5:09
05 Show Your Hand 4:26
06 Back In '67 4:08
07 Reach Out 4:02
08 T.L.C. 8:09
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In the informative liner notes that he wrote for Rhino's early-'90s reissue of Cut the Cake, writer A. Scott Galloway explains that this excellent album was recorded under less-than-ideal circumstances. The Average White Band's original drummer, Robbie McIntosh, died of a heroin overdose in 1974, and the surviving members were still in mourning when they started working on their third album, Cut the Cake (which originally came out on LP in 1975). Steve Ferrone, a black drummer from London, England, was hired as a replacement -- ironically, he became the first black member of a Scottish soul/funk band that had a very African-American sound and a largely African-American following. Despite the fact that AWB's members still had McIntosh's death on their minds when they were writing and recording Cut the Cake, this isn't a depressing or consistently melancholy album; far from it. In fact, parts of the album are downright fun, especially up-tempo funk gems like "School Boy Crush," "Groovin' the Night Away" and the hit title song (which made it to number seven on Billboard's R&B singles chart). Cut the Cake is also the album that gave us the ballad "Cloudy" (one of the more melancholy tracks) and AWB's version of "If I Ever Lose This Heaven," a smooth soul classic that was originally recorded by Quincy Jones in 1973. The song wasn't a chart-buster -- it peaked at number 25 on Billboard's R&B singles chart -- but it did become a favorite among AWB fans and enjoyed a lot of exposure on quiet storm formats. AWB's members certainly don't sound like they're in mourning on Cut the Cake. If anything, they honor McIntosh's memory by showing their resilience and delivering one of their finest, most engaging albums.
Average White Band - Cut The Cake (flac 278mb)
01 Cut The Cake 4:05
02 School Boy Crush 5:00
03 It's A Mystery 3:56
04 Groovin' The Night Away 3:43
05 If I Ever Lose This Heaven 4:58
06 Why 4:06
07 High Flyin' Woman 3:47
08 Cloudy 4:21
09 How Sweet Can You Get 3:59
10 When They Bring Down The Curtain 4:44
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Today's Artists are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track "Pick Up the Pieces", and their albums AWB and Cut the Cake. . ...... N Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Average White Band (also AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track "Pick Up the Pieces", and their albums AWB and Cut the Cake. The band name was initially proposed by Bonnie Bramlett; the band backed Bramlett on her first solo outing, 1973's Sweet Bonnie Bramlett, an album that presaged the Disco movement, particularly with the track Crazy 'Bout My Baby played heavily in dance clubs. They have influenced others such as the Brand New Heavies, and been sampled by various musicians including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, TLC, The Beatnuts, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, and A Tribe Called Quest, Christina Milian, as well as Arrested Development – making them the 15th most sampled act in history. As of 2018, 46 years after their formation, they continue to perform.
AWB was formed in early 1972 in London by Alan Gorrie, and Malcolm "Molly" Duncan, with Owen "Onnie" McIntyre, Michael Rosen (trumpet), Roger Ball, and Robbie McIntosh joining them in the original line-up. Hamish Stuart quickly replaced Rosen. Duncan and Ball, affectionately known as the Dundee Horns, studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art (now part of the University of Dundee, but which at the time was part of the Dundee Institute of Art and Technology, now known as Abertay University), and were previously members of Mogul Thrash. Gorrie and McIntyre had been members of Forever More. McIntyre and McIntosh were used as session musicians on Chuck Berry's recording of "My Ding-a-Ling". According to Duncan, members of the band had played together before in Scotland, but had moved to London separately and met up by chance at a Traffic concert. They decided to jam together; a friend heard them and remarked: "This is too much for the average white man," which became adapted as the name of the band.
The band's breakthrough was a support slot at Eric Clapton's comeback concert in 1973. MCA Records released their debut album, Show Your Hand (1973), which sold poorly. Bruce McCaskill, who was Clapton's tour manager, liked the band's music and agreed to manage them. He borrowed money to take them to the US and to promote them. McCaskill had many contacts from his days with Clapton and managed to get Atlantic Records to sign them. The band relocated to Los Angeles and released the follow-up, AWB, better known as The White Album. It reached No. 1 and was the first of many with renowned producer Arif Mardin.
McIntosh died of a heroin overdose at a Los Angeles party on 23 September 1974. Gorrie also overdosed, but Cher kept him conscious until medical help arrived. The NME reported in January 1975 that AWB played a benefit show for McIntosh's widow at the Marquee Club in London. McIntosh was replaced by Steve Ferrone (previously of Bloodstone), and, like McIntosh, previously with Brian Auger's Oblivion Express. In 1975, the single "Pick Up the Pieces" – taken from the No. 1 AWB album – reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song knocked Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good" out of No. 1 and sold over one million copies. It was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1975. It also prompted The J.B.'s, the backup band of the "Godfather of Soul", James Brown, to record and release a song in reply, "Pick Up the Pieces, One by One", under the name AABB (Above Average Black Band). It was both a tribute to AWB's knowledge of funk and a tongue-in-cheek play on the Scottish band's name.
AWB followed up with the LPs Cut the Cake (1975) and Soul Searching (1976), both big sellers and yielding further Top 40 singles. Cut the Cake was dedicated by the surviving band members to McIntosh's memory. A double live album "Person To Person" was issued in late 1976. Their next LP, Benny & Us, was a collaboration with Ben E. King. After several more albums, "Warmer Communications" (1978), "Feel No Fret" (1979) and after a switch to the U.S. Arista label, "Shine" (1980) and "Cupid's In Fashion" (1982), AWB's audience and sales dwindled. The group initially disbanded by 1983. Their 1980 disco hit "Let's Go Round Again" (UK No. 12), was covered in the late 1990s by Louise.
Ferrone went on to work with Duran Duran whilst Hamish Stuart joined Paul McCartney's touring group. In 1985 Gorrie released a solo album, Sleepless Nights.
The classic lineup of Gorrie, McIntyre, Ball, Stuart, Duncan and Ferrone reunited for one last time at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary in 1988. Gorrie, McIntyre, and Ball then continued in 1989 to record Aftershock. Alex Ligertwood (ex-Santana, Jeff Beck Group and another veteran of Brian Auger's Oblivion Express) also appeared on this album, replacing lead singer Hamish Stuart, along with Eliot Lewis who co-wrote with Gorrie and joined the band. Ligertwood left after the album's recording and drummer Tiger McNeil joined for the reunited band's live shows. McNeil was with the group until 1994. He was then succeeded by Peter Abbott (ex-Blood Sweat and Tears), who in turn was replaced by Fred "Catfish" Alias in September 1998. Drummer Adam Deitch did a two-year stint with AWB from 1999 to 2001.
Average White Band has continued recording (1997's Soul Tattoo, 1999's Face to Face) and touring since. Ball worked on Soul Tattoo with the group but was replaced by Fred Vigdor (aka Freddy V.) in 1996. Brian Dunne took over the drum chair in 2001 and when Eliot Lewis left the band in September 2002 to pursue other musical opportunities (including a stint with Hall and Oates), he was replaced by Klyde Jones. Their line-up as of 2002 became Alan Gorrie (bass guitar, guitar, lead and backing vocals), Klyde Jones (keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, lead and backing vocals), Onnie McIntyre (guitar, vocals), Freddy V (sax, keyboards, vocals), and Brian Dunne (drums).
Dunne was replaced by Rocky Bryant as drummer as of the 2006 tour. After Jones left in 2011 to join Hall and Oates, Monte Croft (keyboards, bass, guitar) and former Earth Wind and Fire member Morris Pleasure (keyboards, bass, guitar) came in to do brief stints before Rob Aries arrived in 2013. Brent Carter (ex-Tower of Power) has been singing with AWB since 2011.
In July 2015, Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan, Steve Ferrone and Hamish Stuart reunited to form The 360 Band. This is in essence one half of the original AWB. They released an album titled "Three Sixty" in 2017 and have been performing live together along with supporting musicians. As of 2019, Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre are the only two original members left in the Average White Band.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Show Your Hand was where it all began for the Average White Band, which turned out to be one of the hottest funk/soul outfits of the mid- to late '70s. But when MCA released this debut LP in 1973, the band's commercial success was still a year away -- it wasn't until they joined the Atlantic roster in 1974 that they exploded commercially. Show Your Hand, in fact, was among 1973's neglected R&B releases. In retrospect, it's easy to point the finger at MCA and say, "You dropped the ball; this album should have done better." Atlantic successfully broke AWB in 1974, so why weren't MCA's promotions and marketing people able to accomplish that the previous year? But in all fairness to MCA, breaking AWB was a challenge -- imagine trying to convince '70s soul stations that a white band from Scotland played first-class funk and soul. Back in 1973, a lot of program directors at R&B stations probably took one look at this LP and assumed that AWB was a rock band; it took Atlantic to convince those programmers that the name Average White Band was meant to be ironic. Of course, anyone who gave Show Your Hand a serious listen in 1973 realized that AWB certainly wasn't typical of the era's long-haired white bands -- stylistically, they inspired comparisons to the Isley Brothers and Tower of Power, not Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, or Mahogany Rush. Whether AWB is turning up the funk on "T.L.C." or chilling out on the smooth soul of "Twilight Zone," there is no getting around the fact that Show Your Hand is very much an R&B album. Show Your Hand (which MCA reissued as Put It Where You Want It in 1975) never became as well-known as AWB's subsequent recordings for Atlantic, but that doesn't make it any less impressive a debut for Hamish Stuart and his colleagues.
Average White Band - Show Your Hand (flac 274mb)
01 Jugglers 4:51
02 This World Has Music 5:57
03 Twilight Zone 5:28
04 Put It Where You Want It 5:15
05 Show Your Hand 4:28
06 Back In '67 4:10
07 Reach Out 4:04
08 T.L.C. 8:08
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
After debuting with 1973's excellent but neglected Show Your Hand (later reissued as Put It Where You Want It), the Average White Band switched from MCA to Atlantic and hit big with this self-titled gem. Upon first hearing gutsy, Tower of Power-influenced funk like "Person to Person" and the instrumental "Pick Up the Pieces" (a number one R&B hit), many soul fans were shocked to learn that not only were the bandmembers white -- they were whites from Scotland. Like Teena Marie five years later, AWB embraced soul and funk with so much conviction that it was clear this was anything but an "average" white band. This album is full of treasures that weren't big hits but should have been -- including the addictive "You Got It," the ominous "There's Always Someone Waiting," and a gutsy remake of the Isley Brothers' "Work to Do."
Average White Band - AWB (flac 276mb)
01 You Got It 3:31
02 Got The Love 3:47
03 Pick Up The Pieces 3:55
04 Person To Person 3:36
05 Work To Do 4:20
06 Nothing You Can Do 4:04
07 I Just Wanna Love You Tonight 3:55
08 Keepin' It To Myself 3:56
09 I Just Can't Give You Up 3:26
10 There's Always Someone Waiting 5:28
xxxxx
Average White Band - Clover Sessions (flac 464mb)
01 Person To Person 3:23
02 Keepin' It To Myself 3:10
03 There's Always Someone Waiting 5:02
04 McEwans's Export 4:48
05 Got The Love 3:42
06 Work To Do 3:42
07 Just Want To Love You Tonight 4:43
08 Pick Up The Pieces 3:56
09 I Just Can't Give You Up 3:46
10 How Sweet Can You Get? (First Version) 3:42
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
When the Average White Band recorded their debut album, Show Your Hand, for MCA in 1973, they had yet to become well known. But their second album (and first for Atlantic) made them huge -- and in 1975, MCA tried to cash in by reissuing Show Your Hand as Put It Where You Want It. Although Put It Where You Want It offered different artwork, the two LPs aren't much different in terms of material. "The Jugglers," which opened Show Your Hand, was replaced with a new opener: the previously unreleased "How Can You Go Home." But except for the opening track, the two LPs contained the same material in the same order; Put It Where You Want It is essentially Show Your Hand with a new cover, a new title, and a new opening track -- and whatever you call this collection of pre-Atlantic material, it was an impressive start for the Average White Band. So why isn't Put It Where You Want It -- or Show Your Hand, if you prefer -- as well known as their Atlantic recordings? It all comes down to marketing. Thanks to producer Arif Mardin, AWB received a much more aggressive promotional campaign than they got from MCA. Nonetheless, AWB's truly hardcore, truly devoted fans speak highly of this album. They'll tell you that the band shows a great deal of promise on the gritty funk of "T.L.C." and "Put It Where You Want It" as well as softer items like "Show Your Hand" and the melancholy "Twilight Zone." While Put It Where You Want It (aka Show Your Hand) is hardly AWB's most famous album and didn't contain a major hit single, it was still a promising debut for the Scottish soul-funk outfit.
Average White Band - Put It Where You Want It (flac 326mb)
01 How Can You Go Home 3:08
02 This World Has Music 5:53
03 Twilight Zone 5:25
04 Put It Where You Want It 5:09
05 Show Your Hand 4:26
06 Back In '67 4:08
07 Reach Out 4:02
08 T.L.C. 8:09
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
In the informative liner notes that he wrote for Rhino's early-'90s reissue of Cut the Cake, writer A. Scott Galloway explains that this excellent album was recorded under less-than-ideal circumstances. The Average White Band's original drummer, Robbie McIntosh, died of a heroin overdose in 1974, and the surviving members were still in mourning when they started working on their third album, Cut the Cake (which originally came out on LP in 1975). Steve Ferrone, a black drummer from London, England, was hired as a replacement -- ironically, he became the first black member of a Scottish soul/funk band that had a very African-American sound and a largely African-American following. Despite the fact that AWB's members still had McIntosh's death on their minds when they were writing and recording Cut the Cake, this isn't a depressing or consistently melancholy album; far from it. In fact, parts of the album are downright fun, especially up-tempo funk gems like "School Boy Crush," "Groovin' the Night Away" and the hit title song (which made it to number seven on Billboard's R&B singles chart). Cut the Cake is also the album that gave us the ballad "Cloudy" (one of the more melancholy tracks) and AWB's version of "If I Ever Lose This Heaven," a smooth soul classic that was originally recorded by Quincy Jones in 1973. The song wasn't a chart-buster -- it peaked at number 25 on Billboard's R&B singles chart -- but it did become a favorite among AWB fans and enjoyed a lot of exposure on quiet storm formats. AWB's members certainly don't sound like they're in mourning on Cut the Cake. If anything, they honor McIntosh's memory by showing their resilience and delivering one of their finest, most engaging albums.
Average White Band - Cut The Cake (flac 278mb)
01 Cut The Cake 4:05
02 School Boy Crush 5:00
03 It's A Mystery 3:56
04 Groovin' The Night Away 3:43
05 If I Ever Lose This Heaven 4:58
06 Why 4:06
07 High Flyin' Woman 3:47
08 Cloudy 4:21
09 How Sweet Can You Get 3:59
10 When They Bring Down The Curtain 4:44
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
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