Apr 14, 2019 3 min read

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By Heather Holtschlag

It was a twist on a phrase used by a friend who had served two tours of duty with the UK Foreign Office that gave the Average White Band their name.

“Our friend said, ‘Bangkok’s just too hot for the average white man,'” says Alan Gorrie, one of the band’s founding members. “We just changed the last word, because we were the antithesis of any British white rock band of the day, so it was totally tongue-in-cheek.”

Gorrie, and Owen “Onnie” McIntyre, who remain the two original members in the group’s current roster, formed the Average White Band in London in 1971. They went on to become a funk and R&B group sensation with hits like their instrumental track “Pick Up the Pieces” single, which was featured on their second album, “AWB,” released in 1974, and their “Cut the Cake” album, which was released the following year.

“Pittsburgh has a special place in our hearts as it was the first place we recorded on the Person to Person Live Tour in 1976,” Gorrie notes. “It was the Syria Mosque, I believe. Some of our best concerts over the years have been at such venues as the old Civic Arena, Station Square, Metropol, Rosebud, Rex Theater, the August Wilson Center, and twice now at the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival. It’s a great city!”

In addition to Pittsburgh, Gorrie says that some of the band’s most favorite places to play include their homeland, Scotland, of course, as well as places in the United States that have an intelligent urban vibe, like Cleveland, Seattle, Minneapolis and Oakland. “We love our London gigs, and Holland is a cool place, too, filled with beautiful country and people!”

Though the Average White Band’s time together spans more than four decades, they find that now they are able to truly enjoy themselves.

“We are not so finicky and precious about it all; you feel that all the grind and grit was put in years ago, and now we are able to go out and enjoy ourselves on the road with the knowledge that what we created was pretty bulletproof in the first place,” McIntyre says. “It doesn’t require too much serious tweaking. The audience wants to hear it just the way they remember their favorites.”

The Average White Band has served as the influence for many top-level musicians and groups, including Christina Milian, The Beastie Boys and TLC, and that admiration and respect is mutual, particularly with regard to artists from the 1960s like Otis Redding, Al Green, The Beatles, Steve Winwood, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, the Crusaders, Cannonball Adderly … and of course, Marvin Gaye.

“Their quality was unquestionable, their music was magic, and we felt we were learning from the very best,” Gorrie says. “It also makes us most proud to hear young musicians and singers perform our stuff at school and music concerts, and to know that what we did is still relevant.”