VA - Blues With A Message [2005]

BLUES

VA - Blues With A Message [2005]

Released by Arhoolie Records in 2005, Blues With A Message is a powerful 18-track compilation that reframes the blues as a vehicle for social commentary, not just personal sorrow. Curated by Chris Strachwitz, the collection draws from Arhoolie’s deep archive of field recordings and independent blues sessions, spotlighting artists who used their voices to confront injustice, poverty, racism, and resilience.

The tracklist spans decades and regions, with standout contributions from Sam Chatmon, Mance Lipscomb, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Fred McDowell, and Robert Pete Williams. Each song is rooted in lived experience, Essie Jenkins’ “The 1919 Influenza Blues” is a rare, haunting account of a pandemic’s toll, while Willie Eason’s “Why I Like Roosevelt” blends sacred steel with political reverence. Juke Boy Bonner’s “What Will I Tell The Children” and “It’s Enough” are searing reflections on systemic inequality and generational despair.

The sequencing is deliberate, pairing songs like Mance Lipscomb’s “Tom Moore’s Farm” with Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Tom Moore Blues,” offering contrasting perspectives on the same subject. Lowell Fulson’s “River Blues” and Fred McDowell’s “Levee Camp Blues” evoke the physical and emotional weight of labor in the Jim Crow South. The inclusion of Doctor Ross, Big Joe Williams, and Herman E. Johnson adds further texture, bridging Delta, Texas, and Piedmont styles.

With minimal packaging but maximum impact, this compilation is a vital document of the blues as testimony. It’s not just music, it’s memory, resistance, and survival, captured in raw, unvarnished performances that still resonate today. For archivists and deep listeners, Blues With A Message is essential listening: a reminder that the blues has always been about more than heartbreak, it’s also about truth. (B)

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Track lists

01 Sam Chatman - I Have to Paint My Face 2:50

02 John Jackson - John Henry 3:53

03 Mercy Dee - Walked Down So Many Turn Rows 3:08

04 Mance Lipscomb - Tom Moore's Farm 3:41

05 Lightning Hopkins - Tom Moore Blues 5:01

06 Lowell Fulson - River Blues Parts 1 & 2 5:19

07 Fred McDowell - Levee Camp Blues 5:36

08 Essie Jenkins - The 1919 Influenza Blues 4:04

09 Willie Eason - Why I Like Roosevelt 5:59

10 Doctor Ross - Little Soldier Boy 3:03

11 Robert Pete Williams - Prisoner's Talking Blues 5:14

12 Johnie Lewis - I Go to Climb A High Mountain 3:15

13 Herman E. Johnson - Depression Blues 4:46

14 Johnny Young & Big Walter Horton - Stockyard Blues 3:24

15 Juke Boy Bonner - What Will I Tell The Children 3:30

16 Juke Boy Bonner - It's Enough 3:00

17 Bee Houston - Things Gonna Get Better 3:10

18 Big Joe Williams - Back Home Blues 4:21

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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