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Published on 7/4/08
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Traditional soulman Eli “Paperboy” Reed was born and is based in Boston, but he’s made some interesting journeys in his 25 years. After he graduated high school, the first place he went was Clarksdale, Mississippi, to soak up the blues scene by playing guitar and harmonica in various bands. There was also a short stay in London along the way. And during the winter of 2003-04, Reed was a student at the University of Chicago. When he wasn’t playing solo acoustic gigs around campus and hosting a Southern soul show on WHPK-FM, he was getting his grits playing organ on Sunday mornings at the Rev. Mitty Collier’s South Shore church (Collier was a legendary ’60s soul singer in her own right).
After Reed returned to Boston the following summer, his first album wasn’t long in coming. Titled Eli “Paperboy” Reed Sings…“Walkin’ & Talkin’ ”…And Other Smash Hits! (Double E), it featured cover photos taken on Chicago’s South Side and liner notes by U.K. roots-music chanteuse Holly Golightly. Musically, it was just about evenly split between ’60s-style soul and Delta blues. In the years since, Reed’s played up the soul angle, as he does on his new album, Roll With You (Q Division).
Going by his appearance last summer at the Hideout with his band the True Loves, Reed has loosened up immensely, sings with more authority and talks to the people as if he didn’t have a thing to lose. He’s probably more traditional than most of the current crop of soul revivalists, such as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, since he doesn’t cross over into funk. But he can “get the house” with his own brand of juke-joint soul all the same.
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