Leroy Reed - Hold On With Me

Some songs don’t try to promise the world will change. They just remind people they don’t have to face it alone. Leroy Reed grew up around Lenox Avenue, the kind of singer who learned the sound of a room before he ever stepped onto a stage. Folks who remember those nights say he always had a cigarette burning somewhere nearby and a way of leaning into a microphone like he was talking directly to the table in front of him. “Hold On With Me” is one of those quiet songs that seemed to fit the mood of the neighborhood in those days — people reading the evening papers a little longer, neighbors talking low in doorways, everyone hoping the night would pass a little easier. I might be remembering wrong, but I think the first time I heard Leroy sing this one, the room went still before the chorus even finished. Some singers chase applause. Leroy Reed always sounded like he was just trying to steady the room. — American Soul Archive