Every Which Way

The soul of Prog Blues is acutely balanced in the quintessential Every Which Way and their one and only self titled release. This remarkable group came together when ex Nice drummer Brian Davison teamed up with ex Skip Bifferty / Heavy Jelly vocalist Graham Bell, future Lake Geoffrey Peach and jazzy ex Sweetwater Canal bassist Alan Cartwright. The catalyst of the group was a North East guitar legend called John Hedley who started out in 1966 with the John Lewis Blues Band playing the circuit namely the Club A Go Go and The Quay. John then headed out to London where he joined Micky Gallagher, ex Boston Dexters/ Buzz John Turnbull and Paul Nichols as a bassist for the group Arc which featured strongly at the Plumpton Festival. John actually entered Every Which Way a little later as the lead guitarist, hired predominantly for the recording of the debut due to his pentatonic jazz riffs that he could play with freeform ease.

The Coltrane / Bartok influenced Geoffrey Peach played a range of stirring flute and sax through the entirety of the album while Hedley’s searing riffs were astutely layered to Alan Cartwright’s soulful bass, specifically the Traffic styled harmony/ flute ambling “Castle Sand”. Founder member Alan Cartwright, an old soldier in the blues realm had started out with the soulful Freddie Mack’s Boss Sound that had a permanent residency at boxer Billy Walker’s Upper Cut club in London. Every Which Way also put music to the Desiderata “Go Placidly”, an ancient manuscript of prayer advice found in a 14th Century Abbey which was released as a disappointing single in 71. Davison then led them onto numerous stages with great success covering diverse numbers like Dylan’s “Days of 49” which failed dismally at the Marquee. Every Which Way went on to spearhead broody numbers like the “The Light” boasting Hedley’s controlled reverb and the acoustic “Bed Ain’t What It Used To Be”, highly chopped with electric riffs and bass sensibility. The reverb entry of “What You Like” was the only number where Davison expels those rolling skins through a jazzy bluesed Keef Hartley styled number.

After their Charisma tour with Audience and Van Der Graaf, Every Which Way cleaned up at the Roundhouse leaving Mungo Jerry and Kevin Ayers to lick their wounds. Davison then formed the uneventful Refugee with future Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz and Bell moved to Arc. After sessions with Arc and Uncle Dog, John Hedley joined Phoenix Jazzmen in 1972 where he met Sting and then formed Last Exit with keyboardist Gerry Richardson, Pearson drums & future Police bassist Gordon Sumner (Sting) who played the role as bell boy in The Who’s Quadrophenia. Gordon started out with Earth rise and Phoenix Jazzmen before the Exit days, but his real cashcow was the The Police. Bell went on to sing with Snowy White and Robin Trower while Cartwright joined Procol Harum.