In selecting a name, the Average White Band certainly was modest. Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, the Scottish band recorded thirteen studio albums and seven live sets; charted nine hits in the U.K. and U.S. and a further 15 songs on the U.S. R&B survey; scored a million-seller with "Pick Up the Pieces;" and had so many songs sampled that the group was ranked the fifteenth most sampled artist in history as of around a decade ago. The AWB is still active today under the auspices of two original members, spreading brassy funk and soul wherever they play. "Above average" certainly seems more apt. Now, they're looking back at their storied discography on a new 5-CD box set out now from Edsel. Anthology is a happily "old school"-style box set with 57 songs on five themed discs drawing on singles, live recordings, rarities, and of course, their classic albums including the Gold-certified AWB and Cut the Cake, as well as the Platinum Soul Searching.

The AWB - founded in Dundee, Scotland by bassist/lead vocalist Alan Gorrie, guitarist/lead vocalist Hamish Stuart, saxophonist Malcolm "Molly" Duncan, keyboardist/saxophonist Roger Ball, drummer/percussionist Robbie McIntosh, and guitarist Onnie McIntyre - turned heads while supporting Eric Clapton in 1973. While the band's MCA Records debut album Show Your Hand didn't fully capture their power onstage, it nonetheless attracted the attention of Clapton's manager Bruce McCaskill. His belief resulted in a contract with Atlantic Records.

Their southern soul influence made Atlantic an ideal home; in his essay here, Gorrie quotes Atlantic chief Jerry Wexler as acknowledging of AWB that "their music hit me where I live." Indeed, the AWB fused Atlantic soul, Stax horns, James Brown funk, Motown pop, Philly smoothness, and a loose jazz vibe. The bandmates filtered all of those elements through their own sensibilities as Europeans intoxicated by the sound of American music. Wexler's frequent collaborator Arif Mardin (Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin) took an interest in the band, recognizing not only the virtuosic musicianship within the ranks but the numerous talented songwriters and the two different, equally strong voices: Gorrie's supple tenor and Stuart's malleable falsetto. Ace arranger-producer Mardin helmed their sophomore and breakthrough album AWB which yielded "Pick Up the Pieces."

The tragic 1974 death of Robbie McIntosh - he reportedly drank a glass of wine that had been spiked with heroin - threatened to end the AWB, but in tribute to their fallen brother, they played on with Steve Ferrone on drums. Mardin continued to prove a sympathetic partner for another five albums (through 1978's Warmer Communications, punningly titled after Atlantic's parent company), all of which expanded their sonic palette.

Average White Band would disband after the 1982 Dan Hartman-produced Arista album Cupid's in Fashion. But it's hard to keep a good band down. Six years later, Gorrie, McIntyre, and Ball teamed with Santana drummer Alex Ligertwood and singer/multi-instrumentalist Eliot Lewis to record the well-received Aftershock (with guests including Chaka Khan, Ronnie Laws, and The Ohio Players). Periodic albums with shifting lineups continued through 2018's Inside Out. Gorrie and McIntyre lead the band today. Hamish Stuart went on to join Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on the concert stage, and in 2015 he recorded Three Sixty with Molly Duncan and Steve Ferrone.

Anthology chronicles Average White Band Mk. I, concluding in 1982. Its first disc, The Classics, kicks off with the chart-topping, instantly recognizable instrumental "Pick Up the Pieces" from AWB and then non-chronologically runs through 14 more favorites - of both the vocal and instrumental varieties - such as the raucous "Cut the Cake" (U.S. No. 10 Pop, No 7 R&B), the Latin-tinged "Queen of My Soul" (No. 40 Pop, No. 7 R&B), "School Boy Crush" (No. 33 Pop, No. 22 R&B), the Ben E. King collaboration "A Star in the Ghetto" (No. 25 R&B), and the funkified Burt Bacharach/Hal David cover "Walk on By" (No. 92 Pop, No. 32 R&B). This disc goes back as far as the band's first album with the slinky, relaxed groove of "Show Your Hand" and the slow burning "Twilight Zone."

The Classics also features the popular flipside of "Pick Up the Pieces," the Isley Brothers' "Work to Do," and the AWB's shimmering original version of "Whatcha Gonna Do for Me." Co-authored by California tunesmith Ned Doheny and Hamish Stuart, it became an R&B No. 1 for Chaka Khan in 1981. The AWB was an influence on countless other groups, but it's likely that they took inspiration from their contemporaries, as well; the 1979 single "Atlantic Avenue" recalls the best of another "horn band," Earth, Wind & Fire. "Feel No Fret" has a sexy, falsetto Marvin Gaye style, and the spirited "Let's Go Round Again" has a slick disco vibe with tight group harmonies and David Foster's lush strings harkening back to the Philadelphia Sound. (Alan Gorrie once named The Spinners as an influence.)

The Average White Band's contributions to hip-hop, jazz, blues, soul, and funk are front and center on the second and third discs. The 28 tracks on these two discs - including charted singles "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" (No. 39 Pop, No. 25 R&B), "A Love of Your Own" (No. 101 Pop, No. 35 R&B), "When Will You Be Mine" (No. 33 R&B/No. 49 U.K. Pop) and "For You, For Love" (No. 101 Pop, No. 60 R&B/No. 46 U.K. Pop) - have been sampled by a "Who's Who" including Ice Cube, Puff Daddy and Foxy Brown, Mark Ronson and Daniel Merriweather, Lil' Kim and Mona Lisa, Fatboy Slim and Macy Gray, and Tone Loc. Each song's credits indicate where the track has been sampled. Other highlights on these discs include the Ned Doheny-penned, sleek and suggestive "Get It Up for Love" with Ben E. King, and Doheny and Stuart's "Ain't It Strange." (Doheny and Stuart were also responsible for the smoldering "A Love of Your Own," memorably covered by Melissa Manchester on her Singin' LP.)

Disc Four, 7", 12" & Early Versions, has the single edits of numerous tracks that one might have first encountered on the radio such as "Cut the Cake," "A Star in the Ghetto," and Roger Ball and Bill Champlin's smooth and mellow "For You, For Love;" extended 12-inch mixes of "Walk on By" and "Let's Go Round Again;" and five early takes (including of "Pick Up the Pieces") from previous expanded editions. The fifth disc rounds up Rarities & Live Recordings, among them demos from The Clover Sessions/How Sweet Can You Get, five cuts produced by David Foster around the period of AWB's transition from Atlantic to Arista, and energetic live takes of "Pick Up the Pieces" and Motown classics "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."

For those seeking just a little less of the Average White Band, Edsel's sister label Crimson Productions released a volume of its budget-priced Gold series for the group last year. It boasts 45 tracks on 3 CDs including some selections not on Anthology. The liner notes also preview an upcoming release. Entitled On the Strip: The Sunset Sessions and due in August, it presents the Foster-helmed Shine LP over two discs in an expanded presentation as the band originally intended. (Four tracks slated for Shine ultimately couldn't be used, as the AWB moved labels from Atlantic to Arista. With the group now owning its masters, "reuniting" the tracks was no problem.) Lastly, Edsel has also reissued the band's individual albums on vinyl in recent months.

Anthology is handsomely packaged in a hardcover book-style format with slotted pages for each CD. The book itself is light on text, though, with just four pages of liner notes (two candid and heartfelt two-page essays from Alan Gorrie and Hamish Stuart) plus an illustrated albums discography on one page and eleven pages of track-by-track credits. Phil Kinrade has tastefully mastered everything in the collection.

Average White Band's music is as fresh today as when it was first recorded. Anthology is a compact and well-curated journey through AWB's varied catalogue of soul, funk, rhythm and blues, pop, dance, disco, and even "yacht rock." It's a testament to their brassy beats but also to the bandmates' often-overlooked songwriting talent and the productions of Arif Mardin, David Foster, and Dan Hartman. How sweet can you get?

Average White Band, Anthology (Edsel EDSL0065 (U.K.), 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: The Classics

1. Pick Up The Pieces
2. Cut The Cake
3. Show Your Hand
4. Work To Do
5. Queen Of My Soul
6. A Star In The Ghetto (with Ben E. King)
7. Atlantic Avenue
8. Keepin' It To Myself (with Ben E. King)
9. Twilight Zone
10. Whatcha' Gonna Do For Me
11. Walk On By
12. Feel No Fret
13. School Boy Crush
14. Put It Where You Want It
15. Let's Go 'Round Again

Disc 2: Sampled (Jazz, Blues & Funk)

1. The Jugglers
2. Got The Love
3. Groovin' The Night Away
4. Sweet & Sour
5. I'm The One
6. Reach Out
7. Your Love Is a Miracle
8. Person To Person
9. Daddy's All Gone
10. When Will You Be Mine
11. Big City Lights
12. T.L.C
13. Back In '67
14. Stop The Rain

Disc 3: Sampled (Soul & Funk)

1. Overture
2. If I Ever Lose This Heaven
3. Get It Up For Love (with Ben E. King)
4. I Just Can't Give You Up
5. How Sweet Can You Get
6. Nothing You Can Do
7. A Love Of Your Own
8. Love Your Life
9. Would You Stay
10. For You, For Love
11. Isn't It Strange
12. Love Gives, Love Takes Away
13. Digging Deeper (Finale)

Disc 4: 7", 12" & Early Versions

1. How Can You Go Home
2. Work To Do (7" Edit)
3. Cut The Cake (7" Edit)
4. Queen Of My Soul (7" Edit)
5. Get It Up For Love (with Ben E. King) (7" Edit)
6. A Star In The Ghetto (with Ben E. King) (7" Edit)
7. Your Love Is a Miracle (7" Edit)
8. Feel No Fret (7" Edit)
9. For You, For Love (7" Edit)
10. Shine
11. Walk On By (12" Version)
12. Let's Go Round Again (12" Version)
13. The Jugglers (First Version)
14. How Sweet Can You Get (First Version)
15. Back In '67 (First Version)
16. Reach Out (First Version)
17. Pick Up The Pieces (Early Version)

Disc 5: Rarities & Live Recordings