The big closer at Montreux is a 12-minute "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." Evidently they loved this song, because it also closed Person. Sure, "Grapevine" is a classic, as the many cover versions over the years have proven, if nothing else. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I would have preferred something a little more original. In the end, it is hard to argue with music played this tightly however, and on that front AWB definitely deliver.
Live At Montreux represents a high point in the Average White Band's career. As the seventies wore on and the eighties dawned, there would be a series of misguided attempts to remain current, culminating in their 1982 breakup. Since then there have been numerous reunions, both for recording, and for playing the nostalgia circuit. It is a fairly common story for groups of this nature, and I might even go see them at the local casino one of these days.
But where it was really at for AWB was when they were setting stages on fire around the world in the mid-seventies. Live At Montreux 1977 captures one of those nights for posterity, and sounds great to these jaded ears.
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