Eli Paperboy Reed remembers a time when soul music didn’t just mean aping some of Michael Jackson’s old moves and wearing a daft hat: a time when Otis Redding and others on the Stax roster were making some seriously soulful music. Eli is also well-acquainted with gospel music, having played in the band at Mitty Collier’s South Side Chicago church when he was a college student and through his involvement with the Mama Foundation’s Gospel for Teens programme in Harlem in recent years. My Way Home sees Reed plunder heavily from both traditions and produce an album that is, in the main, a wild and screaming bit of preaching with enough in the way of good grooves to keep anyone happy.
“Your Sins Will Find You Out” has some lovely interplay between JB Flatt’s organ and Michael Isvana Montgomery’s bass, while Reed testifies about how there’s no escaping divine retribution, while “Cut Ya Down” lays down an especially mighty soulful groove that will get anyone on their feet. Ballads like “Movin’” and the beautiful title track throw other flavours into the pot, but it is “What Have We Done?” that proves to be the highlight of this set. A hymn for the environment, backed by acoustic guitar, organ and some fine singing, it is a truly great slice of mellow but soulful gospel music.
My Way Home may be a bit of an anachronism in this day and age – and not just sonically speaking – but Eli Paperboy Reed is the real thing and certainly doesn’t have the hollow ring of so many retro outfits. In fact, this album is more than enough to convince that perhaps the Devil doesn’t quite have all the best tunes after all.
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