Max Merritt - 1971-1976: England

1971-1976: England

In London, England from early 1971, the group played the UK pub circuit, 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.