Jay & The Americans - Try Some Of This! (1967)

In the middle of the psychedelic boom, Jay & the Americans released this mixture of pop, sophisticated and topical rock, and folk-pop -- and even a Beatles cover ("Here, There and Everywhere") -- most of it surprisingly outgoing. This may have been its downfall, and a sure sign of the group's inability to do much more than mark time during the 'Summer of Love'; Jay & the Americans were making beautifully produced songs, and reasonably complex albums, covering some of the more accessible contemporary material (including Bob Lind's "Truly Julie's Blues"), but weren't able to make the jump into full-blown psychedelia. Try Some of This is still an enjoyable record, and one that's worth hearing by any longtime fan of the group; one can guess that not many did get to hear it amid the more seemingly relevant sounds of psychedelia in full bloom.~Bruce Eder