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LosTraxx Records LosTraxx Records featuring Max Merritt & The Meteors 2012 CD "Been Away Too Long".

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Max Merritt and The Meteors: The true story of the disappearance of the band's London tapes, as told to me by Max in 2014. ©2024 Brian Lewis

I have lived in the U.S. since 1981, born and raised in Melbourne and left when I was 27. After producing and releasing Been Away Too Long in 2012, I took a trip to Australia in 2014. On the way back to California, we stopped over in Los Angeles and I decided to set up a lunch date with Max, as I had not met him since we recorded Been Away Too Long in 1969, and he was so supportive when it came to releasing the album, how could I not meet up?

After we recorded Been Away Too Long in 1969, we had a one-off, aluminium core, vinyl coated LP created from the tape. I have had that LP since 1969, and being a little short on money 2011, my ex-wife asked if there was any money in finding the master tape and producing a CD? Naïve me said, “I’ll find out.” I digress, that is another story.

Max had made Los Angeles his home and so we decided to meet at the White Harte Public House on Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills, close to his home.

Max was in very good spirits, despite his life being regimented by dialysis three times a week, after Goodpasture’s syndrome had got the better of his kidneys. A spring still in his step, his eyes and gaze very clear, that unmistakable smile and of course, that voice, undiminished by the daily grind.

I ordered chicken and Max ordered steak, well, as the album producer I was paying, but I didn’t care, I was just pleased to have the chance to talk and dig for more info about things, and we ate well. Max ordered one or two adult beverages and as a non-drinker, I had soda.
The conversation got around to their time in London after winning The Battle of the Bands and shipping off to the promised land of international success. They signed with what was at the time a new label in London, A&M, and were sent to live with their families in the quintessential rock band rural property in Reigate, 19 miles south of London. A&M arranged for the use of the Rolling Stones’ mobile recording studio that would be parked at the house.

They spent many months writing and recording, occasionally session musicians Dave McRae (Piano), Jimmy Doyle (Guitar) and Fender Rhodes (Trumpet) were brought in to supplement Max, Stewie, Bob and Dave. Dave took an interest in the technical side of things during this time, which proved pivotal in 2014.

Before Max and I met, I had read somewhere that the master tapes they made during that period disappeared, or were destroyed, and that Max was not happy about it and had never talked to anyone about the subject. So, after mentally weighing up the risk of being rude or annoying, I came straight out with it, and asked Max what really happened.

After they had put all this work into creating a new album, A&M dropped them, and their manager absconded with the band’s entire bank account. Needless to say, the guys were not happy about this, least of all Max, he was fit to be tied. Over his long career, this was not just another example of how labels and managers screw over bands, it was an insult to their intelligence, devalued their talent, and undermined band cohesion and their dedication to the music industry. (My interpretation or analysis of what and how Max explained the situation...palpable)

I never established if Max acted alone, or with the permission of the other band members, and I didn’t ask if there was an extra trigger that caused the next step in the life of the master tapes. With absolutely no facts to back it up, but I could imagine A&M saying, “By the way, please bring us the master tapes and don’t let the door hit you in the ass as we evict you from your home.”

I don’t know how much time passed between the label and manager bombs being dropped, but Max rounded up the reel-to-reel masters and took them into the kitchen, and then proceeded to pull them off the reels while slicing them up with a razor blade. End result, a pile of tape sliced down the middle, all that hard work and dedication now a pile of garbage on the kitchen floor.

Back to 2014 and our conversation at the White Harte. I sat in silence while he described what I believe was probably the most emotional turmoil he had ever experienced in the music business. I am not a professional music producer, just a guy who found a few opportunities to release music the fans had never previously heard. I then asked, is there any way a copy survived? Enter Dave Russell…Max said, “Dave was into the technical stuff at the time, why don’t you check with him, because if there is copy, he will know where it is.”

I get back home and a few days later I email Dave and relate the conversation and ask if there was a copy of the masters. A day or two later, he writes back and says he had just been digitizing his entire cassette collection and came across the desk tape of their London work! Amazing! However, he played it and it was nothing but white noise. As disappointing as that sounded at the time, I told him no matter, and gave him the address of our digital remastering guru, just outside of L.A, Greg Youngman. I then emailed Greg to give him a heads up we had another obscure cassette tape headed his way. Greg also remastered tapes from The NYC August Rock Band, a 2013 release of work from 1971 to 1980, for my one-man operation.

A few weeks on, Greg gives me a call, unusual, so it must have been important. He tells me that yes, white noise was the first pass result. However, he put his digital tool kit work and manipulated the virtual playback head and viola, a perfect stereo separated recording of their never released album. That was a moment of awe for me.

I spent some time sorting out the tracks, trying to determine writing credits, and also received a reel from Bob leftover from their album session (Max Merritt & The Meteors – 1970) that never made it onto the album. I created a prototype album consisting of the 1970 and 1972 tracks and sent it to Max. His reaction? No! No discussion, no argument, just no! I think even though it was 42 years ago, I think it still burned his soul to the core, and it was as raw in 2014 at was in 1972.

Regretfully, I never met up with Max again before he passed on September 24, 2020.

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The Been Away Too Long Backstory

Max Merritt & The Meteors (Live in '69) - Been Away Too Long

The Back Story by Brian Lewis, Executive Producer, LosTraxx Records

How does a recording by a couple of teenagers in 1969 find its way into a 2011 release for one of Australia and New Zealand's most famous bands?

Back in 1969, Max Merritt and The Meteors, like many other top of the line bands, used to play regularly at a Saturday night dance in the S.E. Melbourne suburbs called Spectra. It was held biweekly and alternated between Waverley and Ashwood high schools, and would draw about 1,000 teenagers.