Eli “Paper Boy” Reed has all the earmarks of an up and coming music star. He’s been signed to Capitol EMI and he is touring around the world. His Capitol EMI debut Come And Get It has all the earmarks of an emerging talent. A smooth crooner voice with occasional sustain reveals richness and restraint. Reed’s horn section keeps the groove grooving and his horn section swings.With a little more polish and more of an indelible groove, Reed, over the course of future albums, could become a major star for his label. As enjoyable as this CD is, though, the music and vocals come off as only a good imitation of what Stax and Motown were doing back in the day.“Name Calling” is a delightful pop R&B tune about a turnabout in youthful relations. Reed croons comfortably in a mid-range dynamic with his horn section and his backing vocalists trying to sound like the real deal. There is just something missing, though, in the space between the notes.
The horn section and rhythm section on “Help Me” are, again, not quite top notch. This band could get a few people on the dance floor. It would be hard to imagine several people dancing to it. The bass guitarist probably thinks he’s being funky when in reality he has a simple pop bass line going on. Reed lets loose a few old style vocal yelps that make him come across like he’s trying to imitate James Brown.
“Just Like Me” has a syrupy string section that smacks of Motown, Yet, strings, horns, and vocal flourishes and falsettos cannot rise about the mediocre rhythm section. The song is quite pleasant, but it never sounds dynamic. There’s a funky oomph missing from this track and others on this disc.
Title track “Come And Get It” makes the strongest impression as the sprightly keyboards, snappy rhythm guitar, and Reed’s horn and rhythm sections fit together in a very competent manner. It’s not that what each is doing is particularly challenging, but they do meet the challenge of putting all the parts together well.
“Pick A Number” has a Spinners influence in its slow, graceful groove and melodic sweep. The song is easy on the ears with its positive vibe. Yet, Reed’s voice doesn’t have that flow of greatness needed to grab attention on the national airwaves. The rhythm section also lacks that force of nature groove that can pull a crowd of romantic couples onto the dance floor.
“I Found You Out” is equally pleasant despite the fact the rhythm section doesn’t have that ability to hypnotize the feet with a pulling beat. The melody instruments do not capture the imagination and Reed’s vocal delivery, while technically strong, does not deliver in the emotive department.. For an artist who is trying to pass himself off as an authentic R&B/soul artist, Reed is often embarrassingly unemotional. In order to be a soul singer, one must sing with soul. Reed is merely slick. Listening to this album makes one wonder if Reed really believed that making a soul album would be as easy as connecting the dots and paint by numbers. This singer is a young man who needs to have his heart broken several times over before he will be qualified to sing about it in a way that can make people feel it and remember a time in their lives when they felt the same way. It seems more than likely that Reed was just a good talker to get a recording contract with Capitol to make this faux soul debut.
“Time Will Tell” fails to deliver the needed pulse in its groove, and, the backing singers sound too technical. You can picture the back ups standing rigid in the studio while they recorded this love song that nobody will love. “You Can Run On” has a sweet rootsie feel and a down home groove and the backing singers, here, do create a pleasant faux 1950s doo-wop effect, kind of like a pseudo-Sha Na Na. “Pick Your Battles” is a charming, smooth, slow song about being flexible in a relationship. A lovely string section has a graceful sweep of melody that contrasts sharply with Reeds ruggedly handsome vocal.
Reed closes out with “Explosion” and the tune is certainly an explosion of guitar riffs, horn shots, and organ chords. Going out with a bang is always a good thing for a high energy band. It’s just unfortunate this collection of players behind Reed couldn’t play with more finesse. Reed is not a bad singer at all. Yet, his slickness is no substitute for that vocal power that marked so much of the great R&B music of the 1960s and the heavier soul music of the 1970s. His band fails to find that true in the pocket groove that can make an audience dance to the music for generations after it was recorded.
www.elipaperboyreed.com
“It seems more than likely that Reed was just a good talker to get a recording contract with Capitol to make this faux soul debut.”
Pretty harsh. I thought it was a good cd.