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ROLLING STONE
Breaking Artist: Eli "Paperboy" Reed
April 9, 2008

Who: Eli "Paperboy" Reed, a Boston-via-Delta South soul singer who, with his band the True Loves, conquered both street corners and punk clubs with a mix of grooved-out rave-ups and slow-burning ballads.

Sounds Like: Your favorite Motown and Stax Records livened up for the Winehouse era. On his new album Roll With You, "Paperboy" delivers classic soul and horn-heavy R&B soaked with the blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. "Southern music is really where it's at for me and it's really defined my sound," Reed says.

Vital Stats:

• So where did he get the moniker "Paperboy?" "Ever see the movie Newsies?" asks Reed. "I lived in Mississippi for a while and in high school I had a newsboy hat that was my grandfather's. Everyone's got a nickname down there and people started calling me 'Paperboy' because of the hat."

• Reed's performing days started at age sixteen with a summer job playing in the street in Boston's Harvard Square. "I played guitar and harmonica, and my friend played drums and washboard," Reed remembers. "The money was good, and we only had to work for four hours a day."

• Reed has gained a reputation for his energetic live shows. "I had gotten a new blue sharkskin suit that I loved, and I was doing a ballad where I got down on one knee and suddenly the entire left pant leg ripped wide open," Reed says. "I was standing there with one pant leg. There were three songs left in the set, and there wasn't much I could do but finish the set. I rip a lot of pants."

Hear It Now: Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves' Roll With You is out April 29th. Until then, check out some of Reed's songs over at his MySpace page and watch the above video, featuring the band playing "(Doin' The) Boom Boom" live at this year's South By Southwest festival.

Daniel Kreps

Boston Phoenix- April 7, 2008 Jim Sullivan Piece (link)

Boston Magazine- April 2008

BLUES REVUE pdf

ELI'S COMING: On the follow-up to his blues-drenched debut, this paperboy delivers exhilarating classic soul by Hal Horowitz

It’s time to testify. 2007 lit the fuse on a long-awaited renaissance of so-called “old-school” soul. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings crossed over into non-niche publications, as did Bettye LaVette. Amy Winehouse, for all her self-destructive- ness, released a groundbreaking album that landed on multiple Top 10 lists, and young lions such as Ryan Shaw refer- enced the archetypal Motown sound in the same way aspiring bluesmen refer- ence Chess Records.
Now, make way for Eli “Paperboy” Reed, a 24-year-old Boston native who submits this year’s first salvo in the classic soul revival. His influences range from Curtis Mayfield’s Impressions to Muscle Shoals grease and the urban postures of Jackie Wilson, Howard Tate, and Little Willie John. Reed’s cutting tenor hits the high notes with slinky ease, connecting the dots between gospel, secular, and sexy Sixties soul with effort- less grace. Better still, he writes riveting original material that’ll have you check- ing the credits for copyright info. A three- man horn section provides the steel wheels for Reed’s locomotive, and upbeat soul screamers such as “Won’t Give Up Without a Fight” and “The Satisfier” hit all the R&B mile markers without sounding the least bit clichéd.
Comparisons to Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding might stretch the point, but they’re obvious sources in Reed’s bulging stylebook. Reed’s songs are perfect vehicles for his spine-tingling shout, with intricate yet natural Stax- influenced arrangements reminiscent of soul’s golden days. When he shifts from a moan to a shriek on “She Walks,” the hairs on the back of your neck will rise like they did the first time you heard Pickett do the same thing. You’ll want to
learn the steps to “(Doin’ the) Boom Boom” as the sax honks, the bass thumps, and Reed breaks it down to scorching, primal soul that would make
even the Capitols or the Contours proud. Slip this terrificalbum between any Atlantic, Stax, or Motown set and start your own dance party.

SXSW roundup

• SXSW fest feels Hub rockers’ presence (Boston Herald Monday, March 17, 2008)
• Live Shots (Austin Cronicle Friday March 14, 2008) features a rather hilarious shot of Amin who was sitting in with the band.
• John Fagot's R&R Blog: The best band I saw the whole time was Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves. This is a soul band from Boston with a lead singer from Mississippi, I believe; three horns; a mad drummer; and a skinny white boy who could really walk that guitar. Paperboy is a stocky white boy who must have spent his entire life listening to the Stax/Volt catalog, because at 24 years old, he is a master of the kind of Southern vocal phrasings that only can come from a total knowledge of that era. He does the Joe Tex rap; followed by the James Brown "hit me three times"; followed by a Bobby Blue Bland crying, begging, pleading shtick; and ending it up with a Wilson Pickett scream. There was a band from Los Angeles back in the '80s named Jack Mack and the Heart Attack who did a number on the soul bands of the '60s, but they just weren't as soulful as Paperboy. Don't know what label his indie release is going to be on, but I will be plunking down my hard-earned dollars. Check him out.

No Depression Magazine! March-April Edition

Irish Radio One Interview: The Dave Fanning Show

Blogs

• Crossroads Blues Society blog
• Heart on a Stick
• Philly girl about town pdf
• Bag of Songs pdf

“Paperboy”Delivers (THE SPIRIT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008) PDF

by Joshua Valocchi

At first glance, Eli “Paperboy”Reed appears to be a clean-cut kid from Boston with a penchant forsharp suits, pocket squares and wingtips. He looks like the kind of guy who regularly bore the brunt of hipster haranguing during the Five Spot’s autumn years. When he takes the stage, however, the voice that filters through the vintage ribbon microphone and drenches the dance floor with soul-stirring sincerity tells a story that belies Reed’s baby-faced appearance. At the tender age of 24, Reed finds himself perched upon the precipice of greatness in a genre that was, until recently, circling music’s proverbial drain.

Along with his ace support crew, the True Loves, Reed traffics in classic soul and R&B with authority, aplomb and – perhaps most importantly – authenticity. Navigating a path that approximates the one most recently traveled by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Reed and the True Loves take great pains to recreate every aspect associated with soul’s golden age of the 1960s. From eschewing computer- aided recording processes for simpler (but somewhat scratchier) analogue tape mixes, to the use of vintage equipment – on stage as well as in the studio – Reed is a stickler for detail who stops at nothing to capture the gritty plasma of music and emotion that once oozed from every groove of so many highly coveted Stax-issued vinyls.

Undoubtedly, the comparisons between Reed’s True Loves and Jones’ Dap-Kings stretch well beyond recording techniques and equipment preferences – and with good reason. Although nearly 30 years his senior, Jones is arguably Reed’s closest contemporary in terms of style, range and unflinching commitment to preserving every last modicum of authenticity – whether on stage or on wax. Just like Jones and her inimitable Dap- Kings, Reed and the True Loves leave it all on the floor when they perform, and manage to look damn good while doing it. Sporting old school suits, hats and assorted vintage duds that only serve to bolster their bona fide status, Reed and Co. stay true to form, firming their footholds near the top of soul’s prestigious pecking order.

When Reed and his True Loves roll into M Room Thursday night, they’re sure to tear the roof off the sucka. What’s more, that roof doesn’t stand a chance against anything this band chooses to drop. While Reed’s ripping into a funktastic classic with the ferocity of a young James Brown, the True Loves keep the low end tied down, laying rare grooves under Reed’s surprisingly strong vocals. Embodying the essence of a skillfully polished bandleader, Reed exploits his ability to shift gears on a dime, swinging from searing soul screeches to soft, sultry crooning, as his support staff skips, saunters and sprints alongside the “Paperboy” in lock-step formation.

While the concept of a 24-yearold New Englander who is a walking encyclopedia of the histories of the Delta blues, southern-fried funk and ‘60s soul may be somewhat disconcerting, Reed’s case bears it out as a wholly fathomable premise. Although he was born in the outskirts of Boston and continues to call Beantown home today, Reed has traveled far and wide throughout these United States in his relatively short stint as a mouth-breather. When he was 18, Reed tore up stakes and hightailed it from Massachusetts to Clarkesdale, Mississippi, where he began playing pick-up sets with legendary Delta drummer Sam Carr. Carr, a frequent player in several of Big Jack Johnson’s dirty blues outfits, set Reed on a path that led him to delve deeper into the blues – and its origins – than the average white teenager. In fact, it was while playing with Carr and several of his highly skilled but mostly unrecognized bluesmen that Reed was tagged with his nickname. Apparently, the scallycap that Reed insisted on wearing almost every time he played reminded his chronologically gifted bandmates of the typical headwear of choice among old-fashioned newsboys. After ribbing him with taunts of “Paperboy!” enough, the name stuck like a phonograph needle in a warped groove. In fact, at this point, Reed was still going by his true surname, Husock, but soon adopted the now-familiar Reed because “it sounded more racially ambiguous.”

Although a name change may seem to be a somewhat drastic measure – especially with the intention of creating racial confusion – in Reed’s case, it’s actually fairly logical. As a young white boy battling for standing in a genre dominated by older African-Americans, Reed faces a steep uphill battle. However, armed with a versatile voice capable of rivaling (Clarkesdale, Mississippi, native) Sam Cooke’s heavenly lilt while also giving Otis Redding’s moredirt- than-gravel pipes a good fight, Reed is sitting pretty atop a heap of young pretenders (paging Amy Winehouse … ) and is poised to take the crown outright any day now. Make no mistake, Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves are no flash in the pan. They are the real deal and they won’t be denied. Don’t lunch on this gift of a local appearance. It may very well be the last time these boys play in front of a crowd that doesn’t number in the thousands.

Lest it go unnoticed – nay, unmentioned – Thursday is Valentine’s Day, after all. It’s almost inconceivable that a more appropriate musical act than Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the oh-soserendipitously dubbed True Loves could grace our fair hamlet with sweet songs swollen with sexed-up strings and scrumptious sax solos. In spite of our city’s strangely unwavering tendency toward embracing an impenetrable air of defeatism, this show stands strong as unimpeachable evidence that, at least once in a blue moon, the stars align in the 215 and everything is just right in our little corner of the universe.

Even Reed is feelin’ a touch of Brotherly Love. “I’m all about love songs,” Reed says. “The best songs in the world are boy/girl songs; everyone can relate to them.”

• Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves; DJ Kyle of Intensified! and Ten Commandments - Thursday, February 14, 9p.m. $10. Manhattan Room, 15 W. Girard Ave. 215.739.5577. www.the manhattanroom.com  

From MOJO magazine!

There are singers who sing, then there are singers whose sheer power of expression can knock you off your feet. Eli 'Paperboy' Reed falls firmly into the latter category. MOJO first encountered the diminutive 24 year-old Bostonian bawler at SXSW in March 2007 at an inauspicious radio showcase. When Reed and The True Loves- a six piece outfit rising to a nine-piece on occasion- took the stage, the bar they were playing, in broad daylight, was empty. By end of their 30-minute set, the place was packed and thirsty, the bartenders having vacated their positions to jive at the front.

Gritty voiced, Reed's lessons were learnt in Clarksdale, Mississippi, were, aged 18, he ended up working at a local radio station by "weird happenstance" and through his friendship with Rooster Blues Records owner Patty Johnson he met veteran blues drummer Sam Carr, the son of Robert Nighthawk. "We just ended up playing together the whole time," enthuses Reed, who earned his nickname at this point for the "news reporter styled hat" he wore. A move to Chicago led him deeper into his exploration of blues and soul when he ended up at the church that former Chess Records star Mitty Collier had founded at 1818 East 71st Street. Despite his Jewish roots, Reed found himself accepted by the congregation. "I think they could see how much I loved the music," he says. Reed's love of the music he plays is what illuminates the True Loves' sound. Since moving back to Boston he's fashioned a group from friends and acquaintances to deliver his own righteous blend of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, T-Bone Walker, and other precursors who've influenced him. "we're just trying to play soul music the way it was supposed to be played and in the spirit and the excitemnet that it's always been intended," he says passionately. With one album under his belt and his second, Roll With You, due on the Q Division label in March, Reed threatens to be one of the defining voices of the year.

- Phil Alexander.

IMPOSE MAGAZINE 2/14/08

A Walk Down the Delta with Eli Paperboy Reed

By Ellen Rosner Feig

Listening to Eli “Paperboy” Reed And The True Loves is a bit like taking a journey through the Mississippi Delta to the sounds of classic rhythm and blues. The first single off their new album, set for a January release, includes the soulful “The Satisfier” and “It’s Easier,” and pays homage to old soul greats like Sam Cooke and Al Green. Keeping it authentic, the packaging harkens back to vintage 45s.

A nice Jewish boy from Brookline, Massachusetts, Reed spent hours of his youth listening to classic gospel, soul and rhythm and blues — records owned by his father, Howard Husock, a writer of music reviews. In search of both himself and the history of the blues, Reed moved to the heart of the Mississippi Delta the summer after his graduation from high school. He stayed for a year. Reed relates, “I didn’t go there for any particular reason other than I just wanted to move away and see what was out there. I ended up learning things I never thought I would about performing and music, and just about living on my own.”

On his return, Reed entered the University of Chicago and began to play piano at gospel services in a church on the south side. His first album, the 2005 mono recording Eli Paperboy Reed Sings Walkin’ and Talkin’ and Other Smash Hits, was recorded during Christmas break. “I got some friends together just to do some recording. I was all over the map at that point listening to very down-home Blues as well as Southern soul and gospel and wanted to record all of it,” states Reed. “I listened to what we had and decided it was worth the investment to put the record out on my own.”

Reed the put together a band with some of the guys from the first session. “After the first combination of True Loves lost its drummer and trombonist I was ready to quit. But then one of the saxophonists at the time found a new drummer and trumpeter and convinced me to keep going.” The band’s roster continues to be fluid, with musicians moving in and out. “The group right now is really together and I think tighter and more energetic than any so far,” Reed says.

Reed’s vocal style harkens back to the greats of classic soul and rhythm and blues. “As a singer, I think gospel singers are my biggest influence.” Reed loves the sounds of Johnny Jones, the lead singer for The Swanee Quintet and Joe Ligon of the Mighty Clouds Of Joy. In addition, his sound is heavily influenced by the Chicago soul of Syl Johnson and Tyrone Davis. “If you listen to ‘The Satisfier’, I wrote that in pretty much of a strict Syl Johnson kind of style along the lines of his records like ‘Dresses Too Short’ or ‘Different Strokes.’ I also love O.V. Wright’s style and Sam Cooke is everywhere in my singing.”

Posted by impose in features on Thu Feb 14, 2008 | Permalink

Boston Globe: "Locals on the Verge" link

Jan13: ELI "PAPERBOY" REED The Brookline-bred, baby-faced soul man is a local favorite with his lively gospel shuffles, languid ballads, and vintage-style dance tunes full of serious swagger and old-school sincerity. This year he's set to break out on a national level, with interest from major record labels and the March release of "Roll With You," Reed's new album with his band, the True Loves, on Q Division.

Billboard.com review link

January 11, 2008,
Reed's Old Stylings Soar With Sincerity
Jessica Letkemann, N.Y.

On this unseasonably warm Wednesday night in Manhattan's Lower East Side, it wasn't long before baby-faced Eli Reed was sweating hard as he wailed on one Stax-inspired rave-up after another -- and the audience was fully swept up in the soul wayback machine he and his band constructed.

It was all too easy to forget this was 2008, and from the 24-year-old Bostonian's pinkie ring and chisel-toed Beatle boots to the horn section and Wurlitzer in his band the True Loves, stepping back into 1963 seemed to be the unrevolutionary -- but enjoyable -- point. This was not meant to be a show: it was meant to be a performance.

After a horn player gave Reed an amusing James Brown-like introduction, the Brylcreemed singer joined the True Loves on the tiny, crowded stage and proceeded to preview his forthcoming sophomore record, "Roll With You" (Q Division, due in March), nearly in its entirety. Following opener "Stake Your Claim" (which also opens the album), the ensemble hit everything from the "I Can't Stop Loving You" stylings of ballad "It's Easier" to the juke-ready jump of "The Satisfier," complete with backup vocals by the Divines, a trio of heavily eye-linered singers in matching A-line dresses and go-go boots. By the time the revue rolled into "(Am I Just) Fooling Myself," Reed was on his knees in water from a bottle he had kicked over, electrocution hazard be damned.

The 45-minute set might have felt like play-acting if not for the conviction with which Reed performed. A college-aged kid in a suit leading a 7-piece band through 60's-tinged soul cuts for a room of Manhattan hipsters could have easily been a disguise for nudge-wink irony. But one look at Reed wailing his guts out and it was clear he meant every note.

ELI COVERED IN TIME OUT NEW YORK!

ELI IN THE UK'S JUKE BLUES

CHECK OUT ELI COVERAGE IN THE BOSTON PHOENIX AND BOSTON HERALD.

From the January 7, 2008 Patriot Ledger

“Reed, who in truth does look like a 16-year-old paperboy, has prodigious vocal gifts, with impressive range, spot-on falsetto whoops and gospel shouts, and utter fearlessness at expressing the rawest emotions. You can’t quite decide if he reminds you more of Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding or Jackie Wilson, but (he) leaves audiences in open-mouthed awe. The roaring soul-rock of ‘‘Stake Your Claim’’ got Reed and his backing sextet off and rolling, and his plaintive glissandos on ‘‘Am I Wasting My Time’’ made that torchy ballad indelible.”

Eli in MOJO

Rock and Roll and Meandering Nonsense - September 15, 2007
Review: The Satisfier b/w It's Easier
By Bob_Vinyl

Soul and R&B have in many cases become so wrapped up in the influence of hip-hop that they've forgotten their own identities. When things like this happen, sometimes it's best to hear someone get back to basics to reclaim a genre that's losing itself. Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves may be just such a band.

Don't get me wrong, they won't save soul singlehandedly, but they should at least remind the purveyors of modern soul what they're missing. "Paperboy" doesn't have a technically amazing voice. It's very, very good, but what really makes him a fantastic singer is that he really digs in like he's singing these songs from the tips of his toes. This is on top of a band that is thoroughly solid. The True Loves know themselves and what they want to be and they succeed.

"The Satisfier" is an upbeat soul song that beams with emotion and fun. The flipside, "It's Easier" is a ballad that shows off the group's real abilities on a song that wouldn't hide any inadequacies. Together, they show the group's ability to convey energy at both ends of the spectrum.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves are perhaps a bit like an evened out James Brown or a rough Marvin Gaye. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but it's not, because they're a lot closer to Brown and Gaye than they are to much of what passes for soul today. One listen makes it clear that they mean what they sing; they really are the "satisifer."

Rating: 7/10