Neil McCauley
15-08-2017, 07:14
Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan, songwriter/saxophonist
People were always asking us: “How on earth did a bunch of white Scotsmen end up playing black American funk in the 1970s?” Well, we were all into James Brown – but a lot of it was down to our drummer, Robbie McIntosh. If the music wasn’t funky, he wouldn’t play. He was an absolute groove-master, which was strange for a guy from Dundee.
We had all jammed together but then moved down to London. One day, by chance, we met up again at a Traffic gig. We were grumbling about music and someone said: “Why don’t we get together and play like we used to?” 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.
Robbie had taken what he didn't know was heroin – he didn't live to see the track go to No 1
Pick Up the Pieces came about as we were ......
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/14/average-white-band-how-we-made-pick-up-the-pieces-interview
People were always asking us: “How on earth did a bunch of white Scotsmen end up playing black American funk in the 1970s?” Well, we were all into James Brown – but a lot of it was down to our drummer, Robbie McIntosh. If the music wasn’t funky, he wouldn’t play. He was an absolute groove-master, which was strange for a guy from Dundee.
We had all jammed together but then moved down to London. One day, by chance, we met up again at a Traffic gig. We were grumbling about music and someone said: “Why don’t we get together and play like we used to?” 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.
Robbie had taken what he didn't know was heroin – he didn't live to see the track go to No 1
Pick Up the Pieces came about as we were ......
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/14/average-white-band-how-we-made-pick-up-the-pieces-interview