Max Merritt
Encyclopedia
Max Merritt is a New Zealand
-born singer-songwriter
and guitarist
who is renowned as an interpreter of soul music
and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors his best known hits are "Slippin' Away", which reached #2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached #13. Merritt rose to prominence in New Zealand from 1958 and relocated to Sydney
Australia
in December 1964. Merritt was acknowledged as one of the best local performers of the 1960s and 1970s and his influence did much to popularise soul music / R&B and rock
in New Zealand and Australia.
Merritt is a venerable pioneer of rock in Australasia
who produced crowd pleasing shows for over 50 years. He has engendered respect and affection over generations of performers which was evident at the 2007 Concert for Max to provide financial support after it was announced he had Goodpasture's syndrome
, a rare autoimmune disease
. The Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) recognised Merritt's iconic status on 1 July 2008 when he was inducted into their Hall of Fame
.
and Elvis Presley
; after leaving school in 1956, aged 15, Merritt formed The Meteors with friends Ross Clancy (sax), Peter Patonai (piano), Ian Glass (bass) and Pete Sowden (drums). Initially a part-time group, they played dances and local charity concerts, Merritt continued his day job as apprentice bricklayer in his father's business. His parents together with local Odeon theatre manager, Trevor King, developed the Christchurch Railway Hall into a music venue, The Teenage Club, they hired Merritt & The Meteors. The Teenage Club drew hundreds of locals and increased their popularity in the city when most businesses and public venues closed until late on Sunday afternoon.
Clancy was replaced by Willi Schneider during 1958, the band released their debut single "Get a Haircut" in June on HMV Records
. By 1959, The Meteors had become a top youth attraction, regularly pulling crowds of 500 or more. Merritt borrowed players from other bands if a Meteors' member was unavailable, one such band was Ray Columbus & the Invaders
fronted by vocalist Columbus. From this band Merritt recruited guitarist Dave Russell and bass guitarist / keyboardist
Billy Karaitiana (a.k.a. Billy Kristian). In January 1959, New Zealand's top rocker Johnny Devlin played in Christchurch, afterwards Devlin saw Merritt at a "Rock'n'Roll Jamboree" charity concert where Devlin's manager Graham Dent was impressed enough to praise their performance to Auckland promoter Harry M. Miller
. Miller added the Meteors to Australian rocker Johnny O'Keefe's
1959 tour of New Zealand.
Christchurch had been chosen as the site for a United States
paramilitary base to access Antarctica, code-named "Operation Deep Freeze
" - it had the only airfield large enough to handle the huge transport planes. The US presence provided a greater influence of rock'n'roll music - young servicemen discovered The Teenage Club and the gravel-voiced young Kiwi singer, Merritt. More rock'n'roll and R&B records entered local jukeboxes and were on radio. From their US connections, both The Meteors and The Invaders were able to equip themselves with Fender guitars and basses, which were still rare in Australia
and the UK
due to import restrictions. By 1959 the line-up for the Meteors had become Rod Gibson (saxophone), Ian Glass (bass guitar), Bernie Jones (drums) and Billy Kristian (piano) and early in 1960, HMV released their debut album C'mon Let's Go. Follow up singles were "Kiss Curl" and "C'Mon Let's Go" in 1960 and "Mr Loneliness" in 1961, they had local support but were almost unknown beyond South Island. In an effort to break into the more lucrative North Island market, both Max Merritt & The Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders relocated to Auckland
in November 1962.
style while The Meteors tackled rock'n'roll, soul and R&B. Max Merrit & The Meteors backed Dinah Lee
on recordings, her best known single "Reet Petite
" from September 1964 reached #1 on the New Zealand charts and #6 in Melbourne
, Australia. The Meteors' line-up of Merritt, Peter Williams (guitar), Teddy Toi (bass) and Johnny Dick (drums) recorded material for their second album, Max Merritt's Meteors, then relocated to Sydney in December 1964.
Sing Sing Sing. By April 1965, the second Meteor's album was finally released on RCA Records
and contained a range of styles, including the single "So Long Babe". Other singles followed but Toi and Dick left to join Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs
and were eventually replaced by former member Kristian on bass and Bruno Lawrence
on drums. During February 1966, visiting UK acts The Rolling Stones
and The Searchers
were supported on tour by Max Merritt and The Meteors. After a cruise ship gig to New Zealand (during which Bruno abruptly left the group) Merritt heard Otis Redding's
version of "Try a Little Tenderness
" and recorded his own cover in 1967. Turmoil within The Meteors saw a rapid turn-over of members and by May, Merritt with Bob Birtles on saxophone, Stewart "Stewie" Speer
on drums and John "Yuk" Harrison on bass guitar, decided to relocate to Melbourne.
collided head-on with a car near Bunyip
-- Birtles suffered a broken leg, Speer had both legs crushed, broke both arms and lost the tops off several fingers, and Merrit lost his right eye and had his face scarred. It took the band nearly a year to recover, and by July 1968 they competed in the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds
finishing behind winners The Groove
, The Masters Apprentices
and Doug Parkinson
.
1969 saw the group re-signed by RCA and they released their first single for over two years, a cover of Jerry Butler's
"Hey, Western Union Man", which reached #13 on the Australian singles charts. In early 1970 their third album Max Merritt and the Meteors
was released with six original tracks and five covers, it reached #8 on the National albums chart. Dave Russell (ex-Ray Columbus & the Invaders
) replaced Harrison on bass and Merrit's band were asked by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC) to provide a four part TV series Max Merrit and the Meteors in Concert. Late 1970 they released Stray Cats and followed with singles, "Good Feelin'" and "Hello LA, Bye Bye Birmingham" in 1971, and "Let it Slide" in 1972 but neither album nor singles charted well. By that time, Merritt had relocated again - this time to England.
, initially with little success but slowly their popularity grew, they supported Slade
and the Moody Blues on their tours. However in 1974, The Meteors fell apart again, leaving Merritt and Speer to recruit John Gourd on guitar, slide guitar and piano; Howard Deniz on bass and Barry Duggan on sax and flute. This line-up were signed by US based Arista Records
for their newly established UK label and released A Little Easier with the title single "A Little Easier" in 1975. "Slippin' Away" was their second single from the album, it captured the attention of radio listeners in both Australia and New Zealand, it reached #2 in Australia and #5 in New Zealand. Their best performed single drove the sales of A Little Easier which reached #4 on the Australian album charts. Another album Out of the Blue (#13, 1976) was released with a renewed version of "Let it Slide" (#29) as a single in Australia. During this time the group played regular gigs at the White Hart in Willesden Green - The Nashville Rooms in West Kensington The Windsor Castle on the Harrow Road and in 1976 played a memorable gig at Alexandra Palace where Max Merritt got to the gig on the day after travelling back to New Zealand to visit his dying mother (unfortunately she died while Max was en-route to New Zealand). Max then finalised matters in NZ and promptly flew back to the UK to make it to the "Ally Pally" gig on time. With the advent of punk rock by 1977 Max Merritt & The Meteor's popularity on the UK pub circuit had declined and they effectivley disbanded after which Merritt relocated to the US.
, USA in 1977 and signed as a solo artist with Polydor Records
, which released Keeping In Touch in 1978. He then moved to Los Angeles
, where he continues to reside, and he toured Australia in 1979 and 1980. On the second tour he put together a band with Stewie Speer on drums, Paul Grant on guitar, John Williams on keyboards, Martin Jenner on guitar and Phil Lawson on bass. This was Merritt and Speer's last major tour together: Speer died of a heart attack on 16 September 1986. Merritt released singles "Growing Pains" in 1982 and "Mean Green Fighting Machine" in 1986, the second was a promotional single for the Canberra Raiders
Rugby League
team. He toured Australia in 1991 with Brian Cadd
(ex-The Groop
, Axiom
, solo) in the Brian Cadd and Max Merritt Band, which comprised Merritt, Cadd (vocals, piano), John Dallimore (guitar; ex-Redhouse, Dallimore, Jon English Band
), Craig Reeves (keyboards), Des Scott (bass) and Dave Stewart (drums; ex-Daniel). In late 1996, Merritt returned to Australia to tour the club and pub circuit.
- a fellow veteran rocker from the 1960s. This marked a resurgence of interest for Merritt: April and May were spent touring Australia under the banner "The Heart & Soul of Rock & Roll" with Parkinson; August and September 2002 was the Long Way To The Top
- The Concert tour. After that, whenever Merritt returned to Australia, a reformed Max Merritt & The Meteors were in demand for special events and music festivals: Melbourne Music & Blues Festival, The Perth Moonlight Festival, The Veterans Games in Alice Springs, The Queenscliff Festival, The Toyota Muster in Gympie; and in April 2006, the Byron Bay Blues Festival and the Gladstone Harbour Festival.
In mid-April 2007, Merritt was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital suffering kidney failure, he was diagnosed as having Goodpasture's syndrome
, a rare autoimmune disorder
that affects the kidneys and lungs. Merritt was struggling with his health and finances, so his manager, Wal Bishop, along with Australian music industry friends organised a Concert for Max held at the Palais Theatre
, St Kilda, Victoria
, Melbourne on 21 October 2007, and raised $200,000. He is currently on a dialysis machine awaiting a kidney transplant and is unable to tour extensively. On 1 July 2008, Merritt was inducted by Glenn A. Baker
into the ARIA Hall of Fame
, Merritt was joined on-stage by Kasey Chambers
and Bill Chambers to perform "Slippin' Away".
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and guitarist
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
who is renowned as an interpreter of soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors his best known hits are "Slippin' Away", which reached #2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached #13. Merritt rose to prominence in New Zealand from 1958 and relocated to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in December 1964. Merritt was acknowledged as one of the best local performers of the 1960s and 1970s and his influence did much to popularise soul music / R&B and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
in New Zealand and Australia.
Merritt is a venerable pioneer of rock in Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
who produced crowd pleasing shows for over 50 years. He has engendered respect and affection over generations of performers which was evident at the 2007 Concert for Max to provide financial support after it was announced he had Goodpasture's syndrome
Goodpasture's syndrome
Goodpasture’s syndrome is a rare disease characterized by glomerulonephritis and hemorrhaging of the lungs...
, a rare autoimmune disease
Autoimmune disease
Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In other words, the body actually attacks its own cells. The immune system mistakes some part of the body as a pathogen and attacks it. This may be restricted to...
. The Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) recognised Merritt's iconic status on 1 July 2008 when he was inducted into their Hall of Fame
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...
.
1956-1962: Early career in Christchurch
Merritt was interested in music from an early age and started guitar lessons at twelve. By 1955 he encountered the rock'n'roll of Bill HaleyBill Haley
Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
; after leaving school in 1956, aged 15, Merritt formed The Meteors with friends Ross Clancy (sax), Peter Patonai (piano), Ian Glass (bass) and Pete Sowden (drums). Initially a part-time group, they played dances and local charity concerts, Merritt continued his day job as apprentice bricklayer in his father's business. His parents together with local Odeon theatre manager, Trevor King, developed the Christchurch Railway Hall into a music venue, The Teenage Club, they hired Merritt & The Meteors. The Teenage Club drew hundreds of locals and increased their popularity in the city when most businesses and public venues closed until late on Sunday afternoon.
Clancy was replaced by Willi Schneider during 1958, the band released their debut single "Get a Haircut" in June on HMV Records
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
. By 1959, The Meteors had become a top youth attraction, regularly pulling crowds of 500 or more. Merritt borrowed players from other bands if a Meteors' member was unavailable, one such band was Ray Columbus & the Invaders
Ray Columbus & the Invaders
Ray Columbus & the Invaders were a rock group from New Zealand active from 1964 to 1966.The group was influenced by the early 1960s work of Cliff Richard and The Beatles. They scored a #1 hit in Australia and New Zealand with "She's a Mod" in 1964, a cover version of a song by The Senators. They...
fronted by vocalist Columbus. From this band Merritt recruited guitarist Dave Russell and bass guitarist / keyboardist
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Billy Karaitiana (a.k.a. Billy Kristian). In January 1959, New Zealand's top rocker Johnny Devlin played in Christchurch, afterwards Devlin saw Merritt at a "Rock'n'Roll Jamboree" charity concert where Devlin's manager Graham Dent was impressed enough to praise their performance to Auckland promoter Harry M. Miller
Harry M. Miller
-Early career:Born in New Zealand, Miller grew up in Grey Lynn, Auckland, and moved to Australia in 1963, where he established a company called Pan Pacific Productions with Keith and Dennis Wong, owners of the noted Sydney nightclub "Chequers"...
. Miller added the Meteors to Australian rocker Johnny O'Keefe's
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...
1959 tour of New Zealand.
Christchurch had been chosen as the site for a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
paramilitary base to access Antarctica, code-named "Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on...
" - it had the only airfield large enough to handle the huge transport planes. The US presence provided a greater influence of rock'n'roll music - young servicemen discovered The Teenage Club and the gravel-voiced young Kiwi singer, Merritt. More rock'n'roll and R&B records entered local jukeboxes and were on radio. From their US connections, both The Meteors and The Invaders were able to equip themselves with Fender guitars and basses, which were still rare in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
due to import restrictions. By 1959 the line-up for the Meteors had become Rod Gibson (saxophone), Ian Glass (bass guitar), Bernie Jones (drums) and Billy Kristian (piano) and early in 1960, HMV released their debut album C'mon Let's Go. Follow up singles were "Kiss Curl" and "C'Mon Let's Go" in 1960 and "Mr Loneliness" in 1961, they had local support but were almost unknown beyond South Island. In an effort to break into the more lucrative North Island market, both Max Merritt & The Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders relocated to Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
in November 1962.
1963-1964: Auckland
After reaching Auckland, Merritt's band became the second most popular band in New Zealand behind The Invaders which played a beat popBeat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
style while The Meteors tackled rock'n'roll, soul and R&B. Max Merrit & The Meteors backed Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee is the stage name of New Zealand-born singer, Diane Marie Jacobs , who performed 1960s pop and then adult contemporary music. Her debut single from early 1964, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", achieved No. 1 chart success in New Zealand and, across the Tasman Sea, in Brisbane and Melbourne...
on recordings, her best known single "Reet Petite
Reet Petite
"Reet Petite " is a song made popular by Jackie Wilson...
" from September 1964 reached #1 on the New Zealand charts and #6 in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia. The Meteors' line-up of Merritt, Peter Williams (guitar), Teddy Toi (bass) and Johnny Dick (drums) recorded material for their second album, Max Merritt's Meteors, then relocated to Sydney in December 1964.
1965-1967: Sydney
In Sydney, The Meteors made their first Australian television appearance on Johnny O'Keefe'sJohnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...
Sing Sing Sing. By April 1965, the second Meteor's album was finally released on RCA Records
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
and contained a range of styles, including the single "So Long Babe". Other singles followed but Toi and Dick left to join Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...
and were eventually replaced by former member Kristian on bass and Bruno Lawrence
Bruno Lawrence
Bruno Lawrence was a New Zealand musician and actor.Initially notable as founder of 1970s musical and theatrical "Blerta", he had well-regarded roles in several major films, and starred on the 1990s Australian satirical TV series Frontline.-Biography:Born David Charles Lawrence in Worthing, West...
on drums. During February 1966, visiting UK acts The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and The Searchers
The Searchers (band)
The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....
were supported on tour by Max Merritt and The Meteors. After a cruise ship gig to New Zealand (during which Bruno abruptly left the group) Merritt heard Otis Redding's
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
version of "Try a Little Tenderness
Try a Little Tenderness
"Try a Little Tenderness" is a love song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods, and recorded initially on December 8, 1932 by the Ray Noble Orchestra followed by both Ruth Etting and Bing Crosby in 1933...
" and recorded his own cover in 1967. Turmoil within The Meteors saw a rapid turn-over of members and by May, Merritt with Bob Birtles on saxophone, Stewart "Stewie" Speer
Stewie Speer
Stewie Speer was an Australian jazz and rock drummer who is best known as a member of the 1960s-70s Australian group Max Merritt & The Meteors....
on drums and John "Yuk" Harrison on bass guitar, decided to relocate to Melbourne.
1967-1971: Melbourne
In Melbourne, Merritt and his band initially found it difficult obtaining regular gigs and so travelled widely through the state. On 24 June 1967 the van they were travelling in to MorwellMorwell, Victoria
-Transport:The main form of transport in Morwell is the automobile. The Princes Freeway now bypasses the town to the south while the old Princes Highway which once passed through east-west through its centre is now Princes Drive and Commercial Road. The highway connects Morwell with other...
collided head-on with a car near Bunyip
Bunyip, Victoria
Bunyip is a town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, 77 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Cardinia...
-- Birtles suffered a broken leg, Speer had both legs crushed, broke both arms and lost the tops off several fingers, and Merrit lost his right eye and had his face scarred. It took the band nearly a year to recover, and by July 1968 they competed in the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds
Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds
Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds was an annual national rock/pop band competition held in Australia from 1966 to 1972.-History:Australia's Battle of the Sounds was originally established by Australian tabloid magazine Everybody’s in 1965 as a talent quest for new unsigned bands in Sydney, Melbourne...
finishing behind winners The Groove
The Groove (band)
Formed in mid 1967, The Groove are considered to be Australia's first "supergroup" in that all members had considerable experience behind them in a number of successful bands...
, The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...
and Doug Parkinson
Doug Parkinson
Douglas "Doug" Parkinson is an Australian singer who first came to fame with his band, Doug Parkinson In Focus, in 1969. He has had numerous hits on the Australian Top 40 charts.-Career:...
.
1969 saw the group re-signed by RCA and they released their first single for over two years, a cover of Jerry Butler's
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
"Hey, Western Union Man", which reached #13 on the Australian singles charts. In early 1970 their third album Max Merritt and the Meteors
Max Merritt and the Meteors (album)
Max Merritt and the Meteors was the self-titled third album to come from the band, who had moved to Australia from New Zealand in the mid 1960s...
was released with six original tracks and five covers, it reached #8 on the National albums chart. Dave Russell (ex-Ray Columbus & the Invaders
Ray Columbus & the Invaders
Ray Columbus & the Invaders were a rock group from New Zealand active from 1964 to 1966.The group was influenced by the early 1960s work of Cliff Richard and The Beatles. They scored a #1 hit in Australia and New Zealand with "She's a Mod" in 1964, a cover version of a song by The Senators. They...
) replaced Harrison on bass and Merrit's band were asked by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) to provide a four part TV series Max Merrit and the Meteors in Concert. Late 1970 they released Stray Cats and followed with singles, "Good Feelin'" and "Hello LA, Bye Bye Birmingham" in 1971, and "Let it Slide" in 1972 but neither album nor singles charted well. By that time, Merritt had relocated again - this time to England.
1971-1976: England
In London, England from early 1971, the group played the UK pub circuitPub rock (UK)
Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...
, initially with little success but slowly their popularity grew, they supported Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
and the Moody Blues on their tours. However in 1974, The Meteors fell apart again, leaving Merritt and Speer to recruit John Gourd on guitar, slide guitar and piano; Howard Deniz on bass and Barry Duggan on sax and flute. This line-up were signed by US based Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
for their newly established UK label and released A Little Easier with the title single "A Little Easier" in 1975. "Slippin' Away" was their second single from the album, it captured the attention of radio listeners in both Australia and New Zealand, it reached #2 in Australia and #5 in New Zealand. Their best performed single drove the sales of A Little Easier which reached #4 on the Australian album charts. Another album Out of the Blue (#13, 1976) was released with a renewed version of "Let it Slide" (#29) as a single in Australia. During this time the group played regular gigs at the White Hart in Willesden Green - The Nashville Rooms in West Kensington The Windsor Castle on the Harrow Road and in 1976 played a memorable gig at Alexandra Palace where Max Merritt got to the gig on the day after travelling back to New Zealand to visit his dying mother (unfortunately she died while Max was en-route to New Zealand). Max then finalised matters in NZ and promptly flew back to the UK to make it to the "Ally Pally" gig on time. With the advent of punk rock by 1977 Max Merritt & The Meteor's popularity on the UK pub circuit had declined and they effectivley disbanded after which Merritt relocated to the US.
1977-present: Based in U.S.A.
Merritt relocated to NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, USA in 1977 and signed as a solo artist with Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, which released Keeping In Touch in 1978. He then moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he continues to reside, and he toured Australia in 1979 and 1980. On the second tour he put together a band with Stewie Speer on drums, Paul Grant on guitar, John Williams on keyboards, Martin Jenner on guitar and Phil Lawson on bass. This was Merritt and Speer's last major tour together: Speer died of a heart attack on 16 September 1986. Merritt released singles "Growing Pains" in 1982 and "Mean Green Fighting Machine" in 1986, the second was a promotional single for the Canberra Raiders
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...
Rugby League
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
team. He toured Australia in 1991 with Brian Cadd
Brian Cadd
Brian George Cadd is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist and producer who has performed as a member of The Groop, Axiom, Flying Burrito Brothers and solo...
(ex-The Groop
The Groop
The Groop were an Australian folk, R&B and rock band formed in 1964 in Melbourne, Australia and had their greatest chart success with their second line-up of Max Ross on bass, Richard Wright on drums and vocals, Don Mudie on lead guitar, Brian Cadd on keyboards and vocals, and Ronnie Charles on...
, Axiom
Axiom (Australian band)
Axiom were a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1969 and included musicians Glenn Shorrock and Brian Cadd.-Biography:Axiom's formation was a by-product of the annual Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds in which the top Australian bands of the day performed in front of judges for the prize of a...
, solo) in the Brian Cadd and Max Merritt Band, which comprised Merritt, Cadd (vocals, piano), John Dallimore (guitar; ex-Redhouse, Dallimore, Jon English Band
Jon English
Jonathan James "Jon" English is an Australian rock singer, musician, actor and writer. English emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1961...
), Craig Reeves (keyboards), Des Scott (bass) and Dave Stewart (drums; ex-Daniel). In late 1996, Merritt returned to Australia to tour the club and pub circuit.
2000s Resurgence
Merritt toured Australia on a short club circuit in April 2001 along with Doug ParkinsonDoug Parkinson
Douglas "Doug" Parkinson is an Australian singer who first came to fame with his band, Doug Parkinson In Focus, in 1969. He has had numerous hits on the Australian Top 40 charts.-Career:...
- a fellow veteran rocker from the 1960s. This marked a resurgence of interest for Merritt: April and May were spent touring Australia under the banner "The Heart & Soul of Rock & Roll" with Parkinson; August and September 2002 was the Long Way To The Top
Long Way To The Top
Long Way To The Top was an Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary on the history of Australian rock and roll from 1956 to the modern era.-Production:...
- The Concert tour. After that, whenever Merritt returned to Australia, a reformed Max Merritt & The Meteors were in demand for special events and music festivals: Melbourne Music & Blues Festival, The Perth Moonlight Festival, The Veterans Games in Alice Springs, The Queenscliff Festival, The Toyota Muster in Gympie; and in April 2006, the Byron Bay Blues Festival and the Gladstone Harbour Festival.
In mid-April 2007, Merritt was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital suffering kidney failure, he was diagnosed as having Goodpasture's syndrome
Goodpasture's syndrome
Goodpasture’s syndrome is a rare disease characterized by glomerulonephritis and hemorrhaging of the lungs...
, a rare autoimmune disorder
Autoimmune disease
Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In other words, the body actually attacks its own cells. The immune system mistakes some part of the body as a pathogen and attacks it. This may be restricted to...
that affects the kidneys and lungs. Merritt was struggling with his health and finances, so his manager, Wal Bishop, along with Australian music industry friends organised a Concert for Max held at the Palais Theatre
Palais Theatre
The Palais Theatre is a former cinema, now functioning exclusively as a concert venue, located in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. With a capacity of 2,896 people, it is the largest seated theatre in Australia....
, St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, Melbourne on 21 October 2007, and raised $200,000. He is currently on a dialysis machine awaiting a kidney transplant and is unable to tour extensively. On 1 July 2008, Merritt was inducted by Glenn A. Baker
Glenn A. Baker
Glenn A. Baker is an Australian journalist, commentator, and broadcaster well known in Australia for his vast knowledge of Rock music. He has written books and magazine articles on rock music and travel, interviewed celebrities, managed bands such as Ol' 55 and promoted tours of international stars...
into the ARIA Hall of Fame
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...
, Merritt was joined on-stage by Kasey Chambers
Kasey Chambers
Kasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of steel guitar player Bill Chambers, and the sister of musician and producer Nash Chambers.-Solo success:...
and Bill Chambers to perform "Slippin' Away".
Band members
Members of Max Merritt & The Meteors, Max Merritt's Meteors or The Meteors; arranged chronologically:- Max Merritt (1956–present) — guitar, vocals, drums
- Ross Clancy (1956–1958) — saxophone
- Ian Glass (1956–1960) — bass
- Peter Patonai (1956–1959) — piano
- Pete Sowden (1956–1959, 1960–1963) — drums
- Willi Schneider (1958–1959) — saxophone
- Rod Gibson (1959–1960) — saxophone
- Bernie Jones (1959–1960) — drums
- Billy Kristian (Billy Karaitiana) (1959–1963, 1965–1967) — bass guitar, piano, keyboards
- Maurice Cook (1960) — guitar
- Geoff Cox (1961–1962) — guitar
- Peter Williams (1962–1967) — lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
- Mike Angland (1963–1964) — bass
- Johnny Dick (1963, 1965) — drums
- Teddy Toi (1964–65) — bass
- John Blake (1965) — bass
- Jimmy Hill (1965) — drums
- Bill Flemming (1965–1966) — drums
- David "Bruno" Lawrence (1966–1967) — drums
- John Charles (1967) — keyboards
- Mike Gibbs (1967) — brass instruments
- Bob Bertles (1967–1974) — tenor saxophone
- Stewie SpeerStewie SpeerStewie Speer was an Australian jazz and rock drummer who is best known as a member of the 1960s-70s Australian group Max Merritt & The Meteors....
(1967–1976, 1980) — drums - John "Yuk" Harrison (1967–69) — bass
- Dave Russell (1969–1970) — bass
- Howard "Fuzz" Deniz (1974–1977) — bass
- Barry Duggan (1974–1975) — sax, flute
- John Gourd (1974–1977) — guitar, slide guitar, piano
- Lance Dixon (1975–1977) — keyboards, saxophone
- Paul Grant (1980) — guitar
- Martin Jenner (1980) — guitar
- Phil Lawson (1980) — bass
- John Williams (1980) — keyboards
Albums
- C'Mon Let's Go (Viking, 1960)
- Giddy Up Max! EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(Viking, 1964) - Good Golly Max Merritt EP (Viking 1964)
- Max Merritt's Meteors (RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, 1965) - Shake EP (ParlophoneParlophoneParlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
, 1966) - Max Merritt & the Meteors (RCA, 1970)
- Stray Cats (RCA, 1971)
- A Little Easier (AristaArista RecordsArista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, 1975) - Out of the Blue (Arista, 1976)
- Back Home Live (Arista, 1977)
- Keeping in Touch (Polydor, 1979)
- Black Plastic Max (Polydor, 1980)
- 17 Trax of Max! (Raven, 1986) re-issued with six added tracks as 23 Trax of Max! (Raven, 1991)
- The Very Best Of Max Merritt & The Meteors (EMI NZEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, 2001) - The Essential Max Merritt & The Meteors (Sony-BMG, 2007)
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... |
NZ | |||
| 1958 | Get a Haircut | - | - | HMV HMV His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone... |
| 1963 | Soft Surfie | - | - | Zodiac Zodiac Records (New Zealand) Zodiac Records was a New Zealand based label founded in 1957 . It was owned by Stebbing Recording and Sound, LTD, headquartered in Auckland; the company also released both 78s and 45s. Artists that released their records on that label included Howard Morrison, Herma Keil The Keil Isles, Ray... |
| 1965 | So Long Babe | - | - | RCA Victor RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... |
| Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah | 94 | - | ||
| 1966 | Shake | 58 | - | Parlophone Parlophone Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which... |
| Fannie Mae | 88 | - | ||
| 1969 | Western Union Man | 15 | - | RCA Victor RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... |
| 1971 | Good Feelin' | 67 | - | |
| 1975 | Slippin' Away | 2 | 5 | Arista Arista Records Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records... |
| 1976 | Let It Slide | 32 | - | |
| 1979 | Dirty Work | 57 | - | |
| 1986 | Mean Green Fighting Machine | - | - | |