Van Jones is best known for his 1981 album "Time Has Made Me New", a highly sought after Modern Soul masterpiece that most point to as the pinnacle of his career. Trying to track down all the records Mr. Jones put out over his varied recording career can prove challenging to say the least, but infinitely rewarding. Spanning a couple decades and ranging from Sweet Soul to Disco, for every new Van Jones record discovered, there usually seems to be a new label or different address to ponder as well. One 45 on Silver Sound, "I Just Want To Love You" (1976), has a San Diego address, while the next on the same label, "I Fooled Myself" (1977), came out of Virginia Beach.
Our quest to piece together the far flung discography of Van Jones ended up taking us to a another galaxy, where we stumbled upon "YTTG To The Freak", by far one of Van's most obscure releases (from an album that as far as we know never saw the light of day). Transmitting live from Planet Grind in 1978, Van Jones and The Jays had to be feeling the influence of P-Funk at the height of it's intergalactic powers. Using the Mothership as a launch pad, Jones and the boys take things to a whole new level...of insanity. The largely indecipherable vocals on "YTTG To The Freak" make Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk sound like
Sir John Gielgud, while underneath it all the band brings some much needed grit to the slickness of late 70's Disco Funk. Who knew outer space could be so grimy?
Van Jones "YTTG To The Freak"
Van Jones "I Do Love You"
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