PHOTO: ROBERTO CHAMORRO | Eli Paperboy Reed, who kicked off his latest US tour at the U Street Music Hall in DC Saturday night with a thrilling show, has for more than a decade played the kind of music that sounded like it came from some secret cache of great soul 45s from the ’60s that somebody left in the weeds on the side of the road somewhere between Memphis and Chicago.
What millennial has so well channeled the passion and power of the era in original songs that don’t sound like he’s paying homage to the past so much as he’s powering his way forward in a classic roadster?
Still something of a babyfaced kid who’s got his hair up in a pompadour these days, Reed sure knows his way around a guitar. But he’s a hair-raising standout primarily for the kind of wide-ranging, unfettered soulful yelp that puts one in mind of the greats—Otis Redding, O.V. Wright, and others who are anchored to a melody but quite naturally vamp on and around it in a passionate fury.
That he’s a white kid from Boston is part of the novelty, I suppose, but there’s no doubting that he’s channeling the best of the best straight from his heart. And it seems absolutely natural too that he’s turned the dial even further with his upcoming new album My Way Home, due out June 10 on Yep Roc, by immersion into the kind of fiery gospel that sparked soul music itself back in the day.
It’s all there in the leadoff single of the album that’s just been released. “Hold Out” has the kind of power and natural soul kick that makes it seem timeless. And though he’s touring with just a talented three-piece instead of the huge horns and vocals ensemble that accompanies him on the video, the song delivers such that it still became the centerpiece of his show even if few in the hall had even heard its lines of encouragement.
It’s the same trio on the LP, done live to tape in Brooklyn in four days with J.B. Flatt leaning on the organ and hitting his chest with a tambourine whenever he had a free hand, Michael Isvara Montgomery on a grounding bass, and drummer Noah James Rubin slamming it out with a snap on drums. All three provided vocals when necessary, stepping in for where Reed hears gospel choirs in his head.
Of course they were sounding good on the classics from the older albums too.
Reed got the gospel kick in part by teaching it in a Harlem-based arts group and delving into the raw, blues-based quartet sound. But he was playing it as long ago as when he sang gospel with Chess soul singer turned preacher Mitty Collier when he was back in school.
The band’s encore, in fact, returned to the gospel quartet a cappella for a timely environmental lament for the Earth, “What Have We Done.” He had a word of warning in another new song early in the set, “Your Sins Will Find You Out,” and all manner of his earlier love songs depicted the kinds of sins available.
Clad in a hipster’s slim green suit with tie, Reed seemed happy to be on American turf after years of becoming a novelty in Europe and a big falling out with his last record company, Warner Bros.
He was happy too, to share some of his oldest songs. It had been so long since he had been on a U.S. tour, they seemed as refreshing for him to play as it was for the crowd to hear. It all seemed part of a homecoming, of which his title song “My Way Home” was all too apt.
About those 45s, our First Date with Eli is right here.
