''Try!'' is the first live album by the John Mayer Trio. It was recorded at the House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois and released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

on November 22, 2005. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. The artwork for the album was done by Seattle graphic design firm, Ames Bros.

Production

The trio features

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

(guitar/lead vocals),

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

(bass), and Steve Jordan (drums/backup vocals). Unlike previous efforts by John Mayer, ''Try!'' focuses on popular

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

renditions rather than adult-contemporary pop songs. The CD includes two cover songs, " Wait Until Tomorrow" by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, and " I Got a Woman" by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

; two songs from Mayer's previous album, '' Heavier Things'', " Daughters" and "Something's Missing"; and also showcased two songs from Mayer's then forthcoming album, '' Continuum'', "Vultures" and "

Gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

Reception

Critical response to the album was mixed, with most critics being impressed with Mayer's progression and Palladino and Jordan's musicianship, while still being underwhelmed. Christian Hoard of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' said, "over most of these sixty-three minutes f the album Mayer proves he can bowl you over, not just make your knees weak", ultimately giving the album three out of five stars. Katy Hastey of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' found that "while "Try!" is brimming with talent, it's not consistently compelling." ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine praised the album, concluding, "Here's hoping Mayer keeps this new groove going for his next solo disc."

Track listing

Personnel

;Musicians *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, production, art direction,

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

* Steve Jordan –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

, production *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals *

Chalmers Alford Chalmers Edward "Spanky" Alford (May 22, 1955 – March 24, 2008) was an American gospel, jazz, and neo-soul guitarist. Alford was born in Philadelphia. He was well known for his playing style, utilizing chord embellishments. He had an illustrious ...

– guitar on track 11 ;Additional personnel *Ames Bros. – art direction, graphic design * Danny Clinch –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

*Michael Caulfield – photography ;Production personnel * John Alagia – additional production *Roger Moutenot –

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

*Chris Nelson – additional engineering *Hardi Kamsani – additional engineering *Joel Singer – additional engineering *Peter Gary – additional engineering *Joe Ferla – mixing, recording on tracks 3 and 10 * Chad Franscoviak – recording on all tracks except 3 and 10 *Greg Calbi – mastering

Certifications

References

{{Authority control John Mayer live albums Columbia Records albums Live blues albums 2005 live albums