The Jelly Bean Bandits – Self Titled (1968) (24/44 Vinyl Rip)

Review from RateYourMusic:
The first track ("Country Woman") really kicks it with the opening drumkit beat and organ riff, but the track slips down a notch a few seconds later and simply works as a very nice raw midtempo number similar to Steppenwolf. The drumkitter is hot throughout, driving a number of ripping, upbeat hard and greasy guitar pop tunes. The Steppenwolf similarities persist as well (vocals, organ, blues rock aspects, poppiness), but this album predates the first Steppenwolf album by about a year and I'm only using this as a convenient reference for a fairly common and generic sound of the era that I don't know much about. A bit of a Country Joe & The Fish sound in there as well, especially with the organ. A lot of the songs seem to follow the energetic guitar pop prototype of The Beatles "Taxman". There are no extraordinary songs on here – nothing to grab for a comp of monster classics – but it's a consistently strong album that's great for playing straight through, especially as it clocks in below 31 minutes. It's comfortably above average in every department – vocally, instrumentally, songwriting-wise, production-wise. Very nice 60s soul singing on track 4. The vocals are often in a clear, soulful style, while also dipping into gruff territory at other times. Neat percussion part near the end of track 8. Track 9 is possibly the strongest cut here, and it reminds me strongly of another band, but I just can't place it. Maybe the Electric Prunes, but I don't think so. Track 10 has prototypically "psychedelic" lyrics, just fantastic in their goofy poeticality. Michael Anton Parker

Biography by Jason Ankeny from Allmusic:
Newburgh, New York psych-punks the Jelly Bean Bandits formed in 1966. Singer Billy Donald, guitarist Jack Dougherty, bassist Fred Buck, keyboardist Michael "Mr. Addams" Raab, and drummer Joe "Laredo London" Scalfari originally operated as "the Mirror", regularly packing area nightspots like the local Trade Winds, Poughkeepsie's Buccaneer Nightclub, and Burlington, Vermont's Red Dog. In due time, they recorded a three-song demo reel that resulted in a three-album recording contract with Mainstream Records – however, unknown to Mainstream, these three songs represented the sum total of the Jelly Bean Bandits' repertoire, forcing the band to write enough additional material to flesh out a full-length LP in the course of a week. Amazingly, their eponymous 1967 debut is excellent, a freakbeat cult classic distinguished by Dougherty's emotive guitar and some innovative production techniques – all the more impressive, the album was recorded in a single 12-hour stretch. Mainstream hated the end result, however, and dropped the Jelly Bean Bandits just as they were commencing work on the follow-up – only one song, "Salesman," was completed before the sessions were aborted. The group dissolved soon after, only to reunite in 1998 to finally commit to tape the songs that were written for their never-completed sophomore LP – only Donald declined to participate in the project, released in 2001 under the title Time and Again. A vintage live date captured at the Buccaneer on September 3, 1967 was issued on CD the following year.

Tracks
01. Country woman 02:30
02. Generation 02:56
03. Poor precious dreams 02:02
04. Another August revisited 02:46
05. Going nowhere 02:33
06. Happiness girl 02:11
07. Goodtime feeling 02:39
08. September rain 02:09
09. Neon river 02:35
10. Plastic soldiers 02:56
11. Say mann 02:21
12. Tapestries 02:24
Total Time: 29:53

Musicians
Billy Donald: vocals
Jack Dougherty: guitar
Fred Buck: bass
Michael "Mr. Addams" Raab: keyboards
Joe "Laredo London" Scalfari: drums