By Nick Cristiano
He carries an analog nickname in a digital world. But with Eli “Paperboy” Reed, it’s no affectation.
To use the cliché, the 40-year-old Massachusetts-reared artist born Eli Husock walks it like he talks it. Early on he moved to the Mississippi Delta and then Chicago to soak up the sounds of blues, R&B, and gospel from some of the masters. Now, he possesses a thorough command of those vintage styles himself. But he sounds less like a mere throwback as implied by that nickname – spawned by a long-ago habit of wearing a newsboy cap but now such a part of his identity that the quotation marks are not really needed – and someone who is breathing ferocious new fire into the music.
With eight standout albums behind him, Reed is now releasing Hits and Misses: The Singles. It’s a collection mostly of tracks that appeared on 45s sold on European tours and spans more than a decade. The 11-song set nevertheless holds together as a powerful testament to Reed’s interpretive skills and his songwriting prowess (three of the numbers are originals).
The singer and guitarist comes out blazing with “Ace of Spades,” turning Motorhead’s blast of speed-metal into what sounds like a lost soul classic, with blaring horns and throat-shredding vocals. At one point the tempo and volume downshift, as if giving everyone a chance to catch their breath, before revving back up and hurtling to a furious finish. Whew.
Two other numbers from that 2009 session are here: “Bad Girl” is another soul scorcher, with Reed revealing another weapon in his vocal arsenal as he occasionally rises into falsetto. Merle Haggard’s “I’m Gonna Break Every Heart I Can” gets a swaggering R&B makeover, as Reed follows the template he would use on 2021’s Down Every Road, an album of all Haggard songs given a similar transformation from country.
“Let’s Straighten it Out”
In 2013, Reed got to record at the fabled FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Ala., with a group that included members of the legendary Swampers – guitarist Jimmy Johnson, bassist David Hood, and piano man Spooner Oldham. He rises to the occasion with the urgent, Staples-like gospel of “I Don’t Know (What the World Is Coming To)” and the Jimmy Hughes soul classic “Steal Away.” On the latter, one of the album’s few slow ones, Reed is more suave than gritty, but no less intense in his pleading.
From 2017, Reed gives an inspired revamp to Steely Dan’s “Do It Again,” adding horns and a swinging, hipsterish sensibility. Also from that year is Latimore’s 1974 smooth-soul ballad “Let’s Straighten It Out.” The singer jettisons the original’s opening two-minute rap and dives right into the romantic anguish at the heart of the song.
(Let’s pause here to reflect: How many artists can put out an album spanning Motorhead, Merle Haggard, Steely Dan, and Latimore and make it all sound of a piece?)
In 2019, Reed was in Memphis with a band that included members of the storied Hi Rhythm Section: bassist Leroy Hodges and organist Charles Hodges. They produced two of the Reed originals here. “Anytime You Want Me” is a slow burner, the singer’s emotive longing pushing against the silky veneer and evoking Al Green. “That’s Love” is a punchier R&B workout. Both numbers also feature the venerable Memphis vocal group the Masqueraders.
The final tracks come from 2020. Dylan’s “To Be Alone With You” gets the R&B treatment with a slinky riff and a slamming rhythm, and another fire-breathing vocal. Reed’s own “IDKWYCTD (I Came to Play)” is a stomper that also showcases his harmonica talents and reads like a defiant statement of purpose.
As with the “Paperboy” nickname, the title Hits and Misses: The Singles can belie its contents. Commercial considerations aside, nothing here is off the mark, and in fact everything hits like a hammer.
Pre-order ‘Hits and Misses: The Singles’ HERE
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