It took off so fast, it didn’t give us much time to think about it. We thought we came up with a unique, very creative arrangement and recording of the song, but we didn’t know we had something that would be that successful. “It took us by surprise when ‘Kind Of A Drag’ took off the way it did,” guitarist Carl Giammarese told Classic Bands. James William Guercio later became the horn band’s producer Guercio would later produce Chicago and the David Clayton-Thomas-era BST. Al Kooper, who put together Blood Sweat & Tears in late-1967, told us that some of the studio work of the Buckinghams inspired him. The Buckinghams were pioneers of brass-rock. Starting with “Kind of a Drag,” the band had a string of hits in 1967-1968. “Pick Up the Pieces” by Average White Bandĭespite their British-sounding name, the Buckinghams hail from Chicago. The funk fraternity would hear the record and love it, then come to see us and go, ‘Hey, you’re white!'” We’d spent a lot of time making no money whatsoever, so it felt very relevant. That ‘Pick up the pieces’ shout just fitted: it’s about picking yourself up when things aren’t going well. ‘It’s a funk instrumental played by Scotsmen with no lyrics other than a shout.’ But that might be why it was a hit, and then became a standard – because it was different. “A friend heard us jamming and said, ‘This is too much for the average white man.’ When we’d all stopped laughing, the name just stuck.”ĭuncan argued against putting out “Pick Up the Pieces” as a single. Saxophonist Molly Duncan told The Guardian how the band got its name. Their 1974 LP AWB and its single “Pick Up the Pieces” both reached No. Listeners are sometimes surprised to learn that Average White Band are a group of Scottish musicians who revere American funk and R&B.
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