Been Away Too Long Album Review

“Get a haircut…”

A line oft repeated by my father in my earlier days, and even more so now. Until today I never knew the source of the line, or the old school sing-along Slipping Away, nor did I know both were more Kiwi than my father. 

The older readers know the name Max Merritt, and the Aussies amongst you will claim him like Phar Lap and the Pav. For the young ones, Max Merritt and the Meteors are a piece of Australasian Rock, Soul and R&B music history. Been Away Too Long, the latest recording under the Max Merritt name is an important part of that history.

The concert portrayed on Been Away Too Long falls ten years after Johnny Devlin discovered the band in ’59 and a year before the release of their 1970 eponymous album, the Meteor’s third. Been Away Too Long is a great piece of Blue-Eyed Soul, featuring never released songs by the Meteors and the amazing Otis Redding medley. Their rendition of Satisfaction makes the whole CD worth it.

While the sound recording technology of those early days wasn’t as crystal clear as they claim your iPhone can be, the quality is as good as you can get using a four microphone setup with tape. It’s more towards cassette tape than broken AM radio on the hiss-pop spectrum, but without the drawback of sound distortion. You can certainly distinguish the individual instruments enough to enjoy the sax solo and allegedly the only known recording of Stewie Speer’s performing one of his drum solos.

Forty three years after the original recording and counting, Been Away Too Long is a time capsule, taking us back to the dying days of the sixties. This release wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of producer Brian Lewis, who was there to witness this forgotten piece of history, and put his original recordings together to make and release this recording. It’s a great piece for the nostalgic and the new breed of Retro collectors.

You can find Been Away Too Long on the Max Merritt & the Meteor’s Bandcamp (http://maxmerrittandthemeteors1969.bandcamp.com/)