Hamish Stuart Band

Hamish Stuart is a British guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer. He was an original member of the Average White Band between 1972 and 1982, a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track Pick Up the Pieces, and their albums AWB and Cut the Cake. The band has influenced others, such as the Brand New Heavies, and been sampled by various musicians, including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, TLC, The Beatnuts, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Christina Milian, and Arrested Development, making them one of the sampled acts in history. In 1975, the single Pick Up the Pieces, taken from the #1 AWB album, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song knocked Linda Ronstadt’s You’re No Good out of #1 and sold over one million copies. It was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America. It also prompted The J.B.’s, the backup band of the “Godfather of Soul”, James Brown, 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.

Thereafter, Hamish Stuart went on to work with Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and David Sanborn. He wrote Atlantic Starr’s 1986 hit If Your Heart Isn’t in It and songs for Smokey Robinson, Jeffrey Osborne, George Benson and Diana Ross. He joined Paul McCartney’s band (where he switched between guitar and bass as necessary with McCartney) for McCartney’s 1989 comeback album, Flowers in the Dirt, and appeared on several other albums and Sir Paul’s world tours of 1989 and 1993. After collaborating on numerous albums for other artists, he recorded his first solo album, Sooner or Later, in 1999.

In 2006, Hamish Stuart toured as the bass player with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. He joined Starr again for a 2008 tour, where he performed Pick Up the Pieces and Work to Do. He once again toured with the band in 2019 playing those songs plus Cut the Cake. And will be touring again with Ringo in the US May/June and Sept/Oct 2022.

In July 2015, Hamish Stuart reunited with two of his Average White Band bandmates to form The 360 Band. This is in essence one half of the original Average White Band and they released an album titled Three Sixty in 2017. Amish and his group have been performing live together along with supporting musicians.

In recognition of his unique contribution to music, in 2016, Hamish Stuart was awarded with a BASCA (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors), Gold Badge award. Now known as the Ivor Novello Awards, the awards, which were founded in 1974, recognize exceptional people from across the industry who have made a unique contribution to British music. Among the 12 individuals to also receive Gold Badges were The Kinks legend Ray Davies, singer Dame Cleo Lane and composer Neil Brand.