Redtree Times

From early in November to the last week of December
I got money matters weighing me down
Oh the music may be merry, but it’s only temporary
I know Santa Claus is coming to town

–Paul Simon, Getting Ready For Christmas Day

On an episode of The Colbert Report back in December of 2010, Paul Simon appeared and played a new Christmas  song called Getting Ready For Christmas. It was a song that dealt with the pressure to celebrate the holiday while dealing with real life problems.

Before singing, Simon explained that his song was based on a sermon from December of 1941, in the weeks after Pearl Harbor. The preacher was the Reverend J.M. Gates, a fire-and-brimstone Baptist from Atlanta who was famous for recordings of his sermons in the years before his death in 1945. I didn’t know much about him and had never heard the name before writing this post in 2010 but discovered that he was a superstar of the era, one of the most prolific recording artists, if that’s what he might be considered, with over 200 sermons recorded and sold at the time.

I liked the Simon song and there were samples of Gates’ recordings in the background at certain points in the performance that intrigued me. I don’t know exactly which sermon Simon sampled but there are numerous examples of Gates’ work online. One, Death’s Black Train Is Coming, from 1926, was his bestseller and is a great example. My favorite however is Hitler and Hell which is a rhythmic sermon that plays very well in the video off the sound of the footsteps of the jackbooted figure moving through the darkness in it.

Another of Gates’ most popular sermons, Will Your Coffin Be Your Santa Claus! (Or a variation of it, Death Might Be Your Santa Claus) sounds like it might be the one. Funny, that with such a catchy title it never caught on like Jingle Bell Rock or Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer.

Anyway, gives a listen to the Rev. Gates, if you are so inclined. If not, here’s the Paul Simon take on Gates’ sermon, Getting Ready For Christmas. Not a song you hear on the radio stations that play Christmas music this time of year. But it is a good tune with a very watchable video.