Eli “Paperboy” Reed: Brought Life Back to the Dead
Heading Down Under to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his debut album, Sings Walkin' And Talkin' And Other Smash Hits!, Eli “Paperboy” Reed chatted with The Note about punk music, Motörhead and Merle Haggard.
Words by Will Oakeshott
Image by @lepetitpatte
Eli Husock literally sweats lifeblood for blues, gospel, R&B, and country music. At the smallest glance of any one of his countless live performances, whether online footage or in a real-time concert, his passion for soulful, classical rhythm and blues pours out in his magnetic performances; as does the sweat from himself, provoked by his fantastically fierce presentation.
Having announced his return to Australia in celebration of 20 years of producing his remarkable retro-blues-rock, and the 20th anniversary of his debut album, Sings Walkin' And Talkin' And Other Smash Hits!, The Note connected with the enigmatic Eli Paperboy Reed to discuss timeless R&B music from the early-60’s, Motörhead and punk rock.
“Punk was defined by an attitude rather than a musical style.” – David Byrne.
One would be hard-pressed to argue with this influential statement from the former vocalist of new wave band Talking Heads; who is also a Grammy Award winner, Academy Award recipient and an inductee into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Aside from his beyond-impressive achievements, what Mr Byrne has flawlessly epitomised with this quote is that the idea of being “punk” is actually more about the “movement” than the “music”.
Enter Eli Husock, better known as Eli “Paperboy” Reed.
If a music enthusiast were to hear only moments of Eli Paperboy Reed’s outstanding orchestration, it is highly doubtful they would classify it as “punk rock”. Eli’s charismatic coalescence of gospel, blues, R&B, and country music, inspired by the momentous sounds dating as far back as the 1920s, is universes away from the likes of The Ramones or the Sex Pistols. However, Husock’s DIY approach and raw rock’n’roll spirit would have Iggy Pop and The Stooges adore his Raw Power.
Eli Paperboy Reed recorded his first studio full-length live to analog tape in mono in a basement studio in Allston, Massachusetts, in one day. This is a similar timeframe to Bob Dylan’s Another Side Of Bob Dylan, the majority of The Beatles’ Please Please Me and the trailblazers of post-punk The Fall with their debut LP Live At The Witch Trials. So, with extremely fast movement and against the standard recording time expectation for 17 tracks (12 made the final cut), this project was undertaken with exceptional “punk” motivation.
“It wasn't like I was thinking it was going to be an album. I was home from college for Christmas break and I got my crew together. We were 21 at that point and I knew them from high school. They were all in music school at that point, and we had all been playing together since we were 15 or 16,” Reed explains with animated energy, rather similar to his live persona. “A bunch of them lived in this apartment building where the super had built this recording studio in the basement. So, we were like: ‘Okay, let's just go in’, and I just played all the songs I knew how to play. We didn't practice the songs. The bass player (Jake Leckie) hits a lot of wrong notes [but] it’s all live! My friend Jack (Younger), who recorded and mixed it, I think only ended up using two microphones to record us. A mic for vocals and a mic in the room, and it was mono.”
It's a rather primitive, raw and peculiar method to record compared to the modern era of musical production which relies heavily on technology and delivers clear-cut perfection in sound most of the time. Was this a deliberate undertaking to “age” the sound of Sings Walkin' And Talkin' And Other Smash Hits!?
“It wasn't like I was attempting to make something old. This is the way that I sounded. What I'm saying is there just wasn’t that much thought, but then when we played it back I was like: ‘Oh, this is really good. I'll make this a thing’,” he clarifies with a charming chuckle.
In quick summary, Eli Husock played and recorded fast, with raw liveliness, treasuring the faults and with little deliberation and care for the rules and recommendations of modern music production. If this doesn’t channel “punk” virtue, perhaps an uncountable number of musicians and misfits worldwide are also in the wrong of its definition.
Intriguingly, the “punk” scene adopted Eli Paperboy Reed and his band in their live circuit. Mr Husock matter-of-factly cut his teeth playing live in basements and DIY punk venues instead of the traditional music halls that his take on old soulful blues and R&B would traditionally host.
“There was a whole punk [and] indie scene in the early 2000s in Boston, and those were my friends. I had literally zero interest being in the blues scene. All those guys were old white guys who were just assholes all the time,” Eli illustrates with a twisted delight and mischievous smirk before continuing. “The music that I loved had this super aggressive, tough energy and I felt that everything else was almost whitewashed and boring. I would rather go and play in the basement; honestly, we would blow punk bands off the stage. We turned the amps up real loud and I played the way I played. I was 21 or 22 years old; I was not interested in going to play ‘old man music’. I think that's kind of a misconception about it; many people would say: ‘You sound like an old blues singer’, but the blues records that were made that I love, those guys were in their 20s. They were young and making exciting, aggressive music!”
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I ask if Reed remembers a particular venue or basement that still resonates in his memory after all these years.
“We played at Bloodstains across Somerville and there was a bunch of punks that lived there. People would put up flyers and you would have to call the number to get the address otherwise the cops would come and shut it down. They would sell beers or whatever. That's the kind of energy that I continue to appreciate in all of the music that I like.”
That energy is more than evident in an incredible rendition of a very highly regarded Motörhead single Reed release. “When we covered ‘Ace Of Spades’, I don't think that it lost any of the aggressiveness,” he says. “You can't cover that song unless you're gonna be balls out! You know?”
Conceivably moving to the other end of the rock musical spectrum in 2022, Eli released a covers album attributed to the late great country music dignitary Merle Haggard entitled, Down Every Road, to critical acclaim. Utilising his mix of soul and R&B icons including Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, James Brown, and Wilson Pickett, and incorporating organs and horns; these reinterpretations breathed new life into rather dark and brash country compositions. This was oddly fitting as the LP was created and recorded during the pandemic.
“It was in COVID times, I had a three-and-a-half-year-old and a six-month-old. It was very hard to focus on anything else, but I knew what I wanted to do when things were ready to open up, and that was to work on the projects that I had put on the back burner for a really long time,” Reed recalls. “The Merle Haggard record I had been thinking about since back to the very earliest days. Because I love his music, and I always felt that those songs could be done that way. A lot of the arrangements I had had in my head for many years.” He pauses for a moment, as if reconnecting to the difficult time for humanity as well as Mr Haggard’s breathtaking art in a quick flashback, then elaborates further. “When we were able to get into the studio, I let it all kind of come out very organically. Singing that stuff and playing it was very cathartic. I loved making that record and I love the way it sounds.”
When asked about his favourite Merle Haggard track, he’s quick to reply: “‘Somewhere Between’ is my favourite song on the record and my favourite one to play. It’s so dark and a really sad song. I think sad songs are great. I love sad songs. I think there's a sadness and a real world weariness to a lot of his writing I find to be particularly enticing.”
In a relatively clashing turn of disposition, Australians will be ecstatic to learn that Eli Paperboy Reed will be returning to our shores for his fourth visit with a full band this coming May. Supported by Melbourne’s The Meltdown (who will also fill the role of backing musicians), this will be undoubtedly a soulful sweatremendous extravaganza of rhythm and blues that will get everyone ‘Movin’’.
“I love Australia. It feels like home. But, I have so much trouble coming up with [the] setlist because there's so much, which is great!” Reed says. “I'm pulling a few things out of my back pocket and that's fun. And I get to take songs to different places and tell stories about the songs and where they came from, or the records they came from. It's nice at this point in my career to be able to take a minute and talk and reflect. And I think people do appreciate that.”
With that “attitude”, his devotees throughout the globe have immeasurable gratitude.
Catch Eli Paperboy Reed at The Gov on Friday, May 23, 2025. Tickets are on sale now via Oztix.
