Reverend J. M. Gates
Are You Bound for Heaven or Hell?
The Best of Reverend J. M. Gates
(Columbia/Legacy)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2004, Volume 11, #8
Written by John Metzger
The first two tracks (Good Bye to Chain Stores, Part 1 & 2) on Are
You Bound for Heaven or Hell? feature the Reverend James M. Gates preaching
about the perils of commercialism, particularly the influx of outside interests
into African-American neighborhoods. In a dialogue with his parishioners, he
explains how these corporations prey upon the community by removing money and
jobs rather than caring for its inhabitants, and he makes it abundantly clear as
to why it’s important to support locally-owned businesses. Elsewhere on the
19-track set, he yearns for a simpler, less complex life (Devil in a Flying
Machine); offers marriage counseling (Scat to the Cat and Suie to the Hog);
opines about overcrowded prisons (No Room in the Jailhouse); and
defiantly fights racism (Kinky Hair Is No Disgrace). Though there is
little in the way of music contained on the collection, one can hear the
call-and-response choruses of gospel radiate throughout his rousing deliveries,
and in the end, one is left wondering just what the Reverend James. M. Gates
might think of America’s current predicament, were he alive to see how many of
the issues about which he warned still exist. 
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2004 The Music Box