Max Merritt - WikiHQ

Maxwell James Merritt (30 April 1941 – 24 September 2020) was an Australian-New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist who was 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 No. 2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached No. 13. Merritt rose to prominence in his native 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 was considered a pioneer of rock in Australasia who produced crowd-pleasing shows for over 50 years. He engendered respect and affection over generations of performers. This was evident at the 2007 Concert for Max The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) recognised Merritt's iconic status on 1 July 2008 when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. In 2020, Merritt was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. When 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 and the Meteors. and No. 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. They relocated to Sydney in December 1964. He was diagnosed with Goodpasture syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the kidneys and lungs.

Merritt died in Los Angeles, California, on 24 September 2020, at age 79, 13-years after being diagnosed with Goodpasture syndrome.

Prior to his death, Merritt had recorded a new album, titled I Can Dream. The album was released on 27 November 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of albums, with Australian chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | AUS

! scope="row" | C'mon Let's Go (as Max Merritt & The Meteors)

Released: 1960
Format: CD
Label: Raven Records (RVCD15)

! scope="row" | The Very Best of Max Merritt & The Meteors (as Max Merritt & The Meteors)

Released: 2001
Format: CD
Label: EMI (534711 2)

! scope="row" | The Essential Max Merritt & The Meteors (as Max Merritt & The Meteors)

Released: 2007
Format: 2xCD
Label: Sony BMG (88697177952)

Extended plays

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

! Title

! Details

! scope="row" | Don't You Know .. Dinah Lee (As Dinah Lee and Max Merritt and His Meteors)

Released: 1964
Format: LP
Label: Viking (VE-148)

! scope="row" | Yeah, Yeah, We Love.. Dinah Lee (As Dinah Lee and Max Merritt and His Meteors)

Released: 1964 (New Zealand)
Format: LP
Label: Viking (VE-150)

! scope="row" | Good Golly Max Merritt

Released: July 1964 (New Zealand)
Format: LP
Label: Viking (VE-151)

! scope="row" | Shake (As Max Merritt and His Meteors)

Released: 1966
Format: LP
Label: Parlophone (GEPO-70033)

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="2"| Chart Positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

! AUS

! NZ

|rowspan="2"|1959

|"Get a Haircut"

|align="center"

|align="center"|-

|"Kiss Curl"

|align="center"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="2"|1962

|"Mister Loneliness"

|align="center"

|align="center"|-

|"Weekend"

|align="center"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="3"|1963

|"The Slow One"

|align="center"

|align="center"|-

|"Soft Surfie"

|align="center"

|align="center"|-

|"Laughing Girl"

|align="center"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="5"|1964

|"Many Things"

|align="center"|-

|"Valley of the Souix"

|align="center"|-

|"Giddy Up a Ding Dong!"

|align="center"|-

|"I Just Don't Understand" (with Tommy Adderley)

|align="center"|-

|"Reet Petite" (with Dinah Lee)

|align="center"|-

|Don't You Know .. Dinah Lee

|rowspan="3"|1965

|"So Long Baby"

|align="center"|-

|Max Merritt's Meteors

|"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"

|align="center"|94

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="3"| Shake

|"You Deserve What You've Got"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="2"|1966

|"Shake" / "I Can't Help Myself"

|align="center"|58

|align="center"|-

|"Fannie Mae"

|align="center"|88

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="2"|Max Merritt and the Meteors

|rowspan="1"|1969

|"Hey, Western Union Man"

|align="center"|15

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="2"|1971

|"Good Feelin'"

|align="center"|67

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="2"|Stray Cats

| "Hello L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="2"|1975

| "A Little Easier"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="2"|A Little Easier

|"Slipping Away"

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|5

|rowspan="3"|1976

|"Let It Slide"

|align="center"|32

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="3"|Out of the Blue

|"Take Part of Me"

|align="center"|-

|"Whisper in My Ear"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="1"|1978

|"Wish You'd Never Come Into My Life"

|align="center"|-

|rowspan="3"| Keeping in Touch

|rowspan="2"|1979

|"Dirty Work"

|align="center"|57

|align="center"|-

|"It's Over"

|align="center"|-

|1982

|"Growing Pains"

|align="center"|-

|1986

|"Mean Green Fighting Machine"

|align="center"|-

|2003

|"To Love Somebody" (with Marcia Hines, Doug Parkinson and Brian Cadd

|align="center"|96

|align="center"|-

|2020

|"I Can Dream Can't I?

|align="center"|-

|I Can Dream

Awards and halls of fame

ARIA Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. In 2008, Max Merritt was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

| 2008 || Max Merritt || ARIA Hall of Fame ||

Aotearoa Music Awards

The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as New Zealand Music Awards (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965. The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians. It was established in 2007. In 2020, Max Merritt was inducted into it.

| 2020 || Max Merritt || New Zealand Music Hall of Fame ||

Band members

Members of Max Merritt & The Meteors, Max Merritt's Meteors or The Meteors; arranged chronologically: