Feel No Fret
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Album Summary
Feel No Fret arrived in 1979 on Atlantic Records, and honey, it came dressed to impress. The Average White Band — those soulful cats from Scotland who had no business being this funky, and yet somehow were the real deal — delivered a record that captured a band in full command of their craft, even as the musical winds were shifting all around them. Produced by the band alongside the increasingly in-demand David Foster, the album carries that sleek, immaculate late-seventies sheen that Foster was becoming known for — every groove locked in tight, every vocal polished to a high gloss. The core lineup, including the incomparable Hamish Stuart and Onnie McIntyre, brought their signature rhythm-section authority and soulful sensibility to sessions that aimed squarely at the adult contemporary and R&B crossover market. It was a record built for the radio, and built to last.
Reception
- The album's rendition of 'Walk On By,' the beloved Burt Bacharach classic, became one of the band's most notable chart entries of the era, reaching the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart and earning strong international airplay.
- Feel No Fret performed respectably on both sides of the Atlantic, maintaining Average White Band's presence on the UK charts and the US R&B and pop charts, though it did not recapture the crossover dominance the band had enjoyed at their mid-seventies peak.
- Critical response was generally favorable, with reviewers praising the musicianship and tight production, while some noted that David Foster's polished touch pushed the record toward a more commercial sound than the rawer energy of the band's earlier work.
Significance
- Feel No Fret stands as a textbook example of the blue-eyed soul evolution into the smoother, more produced aesthetic of late-seventies pop-funk, with Average White Band navigating that transition with more grace and authenticity than most.
- The album is a testament to the band's remarkable durability as a cross-cultural soul and funk act — holding their ground with integrity at a moment when the post-disco landscape was swallowing up lesser outfits whole.
- As a product of the emerging David Foster production style, the record serves as an early document of the slick, sophisticated pop-soul sound that would go on to define a significant chapter of the early nineteen-eighties mainstream.
Samples
- Atlantic Avenue — sampled by numerous hip-hop and R&B producers, recognized as one of the more frequently lifted grooves from this album's catalog.
Tracklist
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A1 When Will You Be Mine 104
4:23
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A2 Please Don't Fall In Love 106
3:42
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A3 Walk On By 165
3:56
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A4 Feel No Fret 142
6:22
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B1 Stop The Rain 95
4:28
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B2 Atlantic Avenue 167
3:12
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B3 Ace Of Hearts 103
3:48
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B4 Too Late To Cry 92
3:40
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B5 Fire Burning 128
3:27
Artist Details
Average White Band is a Scottish funk and soul group that formed in Dundee and Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1972, though they quickly relocated to the United States where they found their greatest success. The band, whose self-deprecating name humorously acknowledged their status as white musicians playing Black American-influenced music, developed a tight, rhythmically sophisticated sound rooted in funk, R&B, and jazz fusion. They achieved massive commercial success with their 1974 instrumental hit Pick Up the Pieces, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the defining funk tracks of the decade. Their ability to authentically master a genre largely pioneered by African American artists earned them widespread respect from both critics and peers, including legends like Herbie Hancock and Chaka Khan, who collaborated with them. Average White Band holds a significant place in music history as one of the few non-American acts to be embraced by the Black music community, and their catalog continues to be widely sampled by hip-hop producers and featured in film and television soundtracks.
