22 September 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

22 September 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

22 SEPTEMBER

FREEDOM SOUNDS

A vinyl playlist inspired by the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, 1862

Side A — The Awakening

  1. Billie Holiday — Strange Fruit
    Lady Day — 1939
    A stark opening: beautiful, unsettling and impossible to ignore.

  2. Bob Dylan — Blowin' in the Wind
    The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan — 1963
    Questions rather than answers — a perfect early-60s folk protest record.

  3. Sam Cooke — A Change Is Gonna Come
    Ain't That Good News — 1964
    The emotional centrepiece of Side A.

  4. Nina Simone — Mississippi Goddam
    Nina Simone in Concert — 1964
    Anger, wit and urgency captured in one extraordinary live performance.

  5. Aretha Franklin — Respect
    I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You — 1967
    A song transformed into an anthem of dignity and self-determination.

  6. Curtis Mayfield — People Get Ready
    Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions — 1965
    Gospel, soul and hope — the needle-drop that brings Side A home.

Side B — The Long Road

  1. Marvin Gaye — What's Going On
    What's Going On — 1971
    A conversation with America rather than a conventional protest song.

  2. The Staple Singers — I'll Take You There
    Be Altitude: Respect Yourself — 1972
    Warm, spiritual and irresistible.

  3. Gil Scott-Heron — The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
    Pieces of a Man — 1971
    Spoken word, jazz and social commentary — the record that changes the temperature of the room.

  4. Stevie Wonder — Higher Ground
    Innervisions — 1973
    Funk as forward motion.

  5. Donny Hathaway — Someday We'll All Be Free
    Extension of a Man — 1973
    The quiet, deeply human moment before the finale.

  6. Nina Simone — To Be Young, Gifted and Black
    Black Gold — 1970
    End on affirmation rather than tragedy.

💿 THE RARE RECORD COMPANY — LISTENING NOTE

22 September 1862 → 22 September 2026

164 years separate the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation from today. This isn't intended as a soundtrack to a single historical event so much as a journey through some of the musical language that followed it: freedom, resistance, dignity, hope and change.

Format: 12 tracks / 2 sides / roughly one very good evening with the turntable.

Side A: Folk → blues → soul → protest
Side B: Soul → funk → spoken word → affirmation

Sleeve-note mood: records with something to say.

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