The Phil Collins Big Band: Pick Up The Pieces

Pick Up The Pieces is a song by the Average White Band from their eponymous album, AWB. It is essentially an instrumental apart from the song title being sung at several points in the song. It features, arguably, the most instantly recognisable grooves in funk music. The song was released in Britain on July 1974 but failed to make an impression. When the album was released in America in October 1974, radio stations started to pick up on the song and, on 22nd February 1975, the groove went to the top of the US singles chart. It then charted in the UK and climbed to number six. Phil Collins commissioned a full big band version from Arif Mardin who produced the original album for the AWB. In the key of F minor.