Description
A Message from the People is a studio album by the American R&B musician Ray Charles, released in 1972.
This 1972 album by Ray Charles was his most political record, epitomised by the track ‘Hey Mister’ that asks why, if the USA is “the richest country in the world”, has it “got so many hungry people?”.
Very few of the messages here, from the unifying ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ to ‘Hey Mister’ by way of ‘Heaven Help Us All’, seem out of place today, in a country – and a world – that seems to have learned very little since this heartfelt plea for social and racial unity from 50 years ago.