Day 26: Various – Love Jones, the Music (Album Sampler)

Today’s disc is a promo sampler for the soundtrack of the film Love Jones. We probably got this 12-inch single free in the post in 1997 as we got so many promo records by that point that it was hard to keep up with them (which is an annoying thing to moan about so please don’t hear that as a complaint). I’ve never seen the film (Love Jones) but the soulful music on this sampler was real quality and we played a few of the tracks regularly (probably on the radio and most likely at our regular Wednesday evening pub gig, Maxi at the Courtyard in Leeds). At Maxi we relaxed, free from club demands, and organised things like a regular alternative pub quiz.

 

There were a couple of names on this sampler that would have caught my eye straight away. Firstly, there’s Lauryn Hill on side A, track 3. Thanks to the Fugees album The Score (1996), Hill was a major star by this point and I was a fan so I probably went straight to this track by Refugee Camp Allstars (feat. Lauryn Hill):

 

I know this track so well that I presumed it must be on the solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill that came out in 1998 (and that, like many people, I have listened to many, many times) but I must be getting mixed up because it’s not on there. Even if she hasn’t continued to produce work at the same rate or of the same popularity, Hill’s influence has been felt far and wide (she is a favourite of Lin-Manuel Miranda, for example, and her rapping style was one of many influences for Hamilton). I’ve still got that solo Lauryn Hill CD too – it is a total classic:

 

 

There are other great tracks on this Love Jones sampler too. The one I remember playing most was side A track 1 by Dionne Farris, Hopeless. Here it is:

 

I didn’t know this at the time (ah, google, where were you?) but Farris sang with Arrested Development (on Tennessee and a few other tracks, though she wasn’t an official member of the band). The Arrested Development 1992 album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... is another brilliant album. The band are still going, they put out a new single featuring Chuck D and Grandmaster Caz called Hip Hop Saves Lives at the end of last year.

 

Another track on this sampler that we probably played too, if not as much, was side B, track 2 Marcus Miller and Me’shell Ndegeocello with Rush Over. Daisy & I both loved the very chilled but very funky Plantation Lullabies, the 1993 album by Ndegeocello and played it loads (on the radio, mainly). It’s been good to see her name again recently (she signed to jazz label Blue Note in 2023).

 

Back tomorrow with a different Jones.

For the first intro post to this series go here.