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Blues with a Message

Various Artists
Blues with a Message

All blues songs have a message, and it is often a statement of the singer’s hopes and fears for themselves and their community. In this collection, producer Paul Oliver presents a mix of country and urban bluesmen (including Essie Jenkins) singing about the trials of being black in America in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Among the songs are versions of “Tom Moore’s Farm,” “Tom Moore’s Blues,” “John Henry,” “Depression Blues,” “Stockyard Blues,” and “Things Are Going to Get Better.”

*Content Advisory: Track 101 on this album contains derogatory language in the lyrics. The "n-word" was originally circulated and popularized through blackface minstrelsy and used by an American society steeped in white supremacist values, especially during the Jim Crow era, to unjustly describe and identify Black people. Please click here for additional context.
For our policy on controversial recordings, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Track Listing

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101
I Have to Paint My Face* Sam Chatmon 02:50
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102
John Henry John Jackson 03:53
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103
Walked Down So Many Turnrows Mercy Dee 03:08
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104
Tom Moore's Farm Mance Lipscomb 03:41
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105
Tom Moore's Blues Lightnin' Hopkins 05:01
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106
River Blues Lowell Fulson 05:19
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107
Levee Camp Blues Fred McDowell 05:36
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108
The 1919 Influenza Blues Essie Jenkins 04:04
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109
Why I Like Roosevelt Willie Eason 05:59
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110
Little Soldier Boy Doctor Ross 03:03
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111
Prisoner's Talking Blues Robert Pete Williams 05:14
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112
I Got to Climb a High Mountain Johnie Lewis 03:15
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113
Depression Blues Herman E. Johnson 04:46
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114
Stockyard Blues Johnny Young & Big Walter Horton 03:24
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115
What Will I Tell the Children Juke Boy Bonner 03:30
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116
It's Enough Juke Boy Bonner 02:59
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117
Things Gonna Get Better Bee Houston 03:10
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118
Back Home Blues Big Joe Williams 04:21