Herb Metoyer is mostly known, if at all, as the author of a song on Fred Neil's Sessions album, "Fools Are a Long Time Comin'." Previously he had recorded an obscure folk album in the mid-1960s on the Verve/Folkways label, Something New. Rather like Odetta and to a lesser degree Terry Collier, Metoyer was an African-American who played folk with a gospel-blues bent. There was a little more rhythm and depth to the accompaniment than the standard folk record of the time, with some bass and light percussion. Entirely comprised of original material with an earnest, sorrowful feel, it's worth hearing, though dated in a slightly over-serious '60s folk revival way.
"Fools Are a Long Time Comin'," however, is not included on the LP. Fred Neil came across the song as a result of his friendship with Metoyer, whom he was introduced to by Joni Mitchell in New York. As Metoyer recalled in a piece he contributed to a Fred Neil website, "I wrote it as a reflection the many foolish things we are compelled to do over and over again, some whether we want to or not." Something New was the only album by Metoyer, who became a helicopter and career military officer, and has also done book cover design, poetry, and short story writing.
