Editing Average White Band (section)

===Breakthrough===
The band's breakthrough was a support slot at [[Eric Clapton]]'s comeback concert in 1973. [[Music Corporation of America|MCA Records]] released their debut album, ''[[Show Your Hand (album)|Show Your Hand]]'' (1973), which sold poorly.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-average-white-band-mn0000064454/biography|title=Average White Band|author=Ankeny, Jason|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=8 April 2010}}</ref> 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 [[Promoter (entertainment)|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 (album)|AWB]]'', better known as ''The White Album''. It reached [[record chart|No. 1]] and was the first of many with producer [[Arif Mardin]].<ref name="AMG"/>

McIntosh died of a heroin overdose at a Los Angeles party on 23 September 1974.<ref name="Rockopedia">{{cite book|first=David|last=Roberts|year=1998|title=Guinness Rockopedia|edition=1st|publisher=Guinness Publishing Ltd.|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/guinnessrockoped0000unse/page/24 24]|isbn=0-85112-072-5|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessrockoped0000unse/page/24}}</ref><ref name="AMG"/> Gorrie also overdosed, but [[Cher]] kept him conscious until medical help arrived.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912985-6,00.html|title=Gorrie Overdose|publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=17 March 1975|access-date=17 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230215451/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C912985-6%2C00.html |archive-date=30 December 2010 }}</ref> The ''[[NME]]'' reported in January 1975 that AWB played a benefit show for McIntosh's widow at the [[Marquee Club]] in London.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years">{{cite book|first=John|last=Tobler|year=1992|title=NME Rock 'N' Roll Years|edition=1st|publisher=Reed International Books Ltd|location=London|page=272|id=CN 5585}}</ref> McIntosh was replaced by [[Steve Ferrone]], previously of [[Bloodstone (band)|Bloodstone]], who had replaced McIntosh before in [[Brian Auger]]'s Oblivion Express.<ref name="Rockopedia"/>

In 1975, the single "[[Pick Up the Pieces (Average White Band song)|Pick Up the Pieces]]", taken from the No. 1 ''[[AWB (album)|AWB]]'' album, reached No. 1 on the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''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 [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|R.I.A.A.]] in March 1975.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells
|year=1978|title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins Ltd|location=London
|page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/341 341]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/341}}</ref> It also prompted [[The J.B.'s]], [[James Brown]]'s backup band, 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 [[Gramophone record|LP]]s ''[[Cut the Cake (album)|Cut the Cake]]'' (1975) and ''[[Soul Searching (Average White Band album)|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]].<ref name="AMG"/>