Let Me Take You by the Hand: True Tales from London's Streets

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Written in 1968, McTell presents a series of characters from the streets of London, all of whom survived WW2.

He was playing at the Bottom Line, a club in New York, and I never forgot all the energy and joy that this man brought to the audience. For those who hit rock bottom and have to live on the street, interacting with the public is a more tense and potentially dangerous affair.Resilience and stoicism, particularly with regard to the weather, are key notes, yet there’s also a powerful sense of being part of some wider community, of being alive among the grand sweep of people. The rise of the gig economy has brought a multitude of drivers and cyclists, delivering and moving goods, transporting meals and people, all organized through smart phones but using the same streets as Mayhew's informants. Like it feels like you’re walking around in Paris, like that’s what I wanted this track to feel like. It’s all a matter of perspective, so when you’re down and out, remember, there are people who have seen far worse than what you think is unbearable.

Eric has been recording and traveling the world as both leader and sideman and continues to build an impressive, solid resume.

Charles Dickens, famously, used Mayhew’s database of voices and experiences as a source book for peopling the odd, dark corners of his novels. There are homeless people who run market stalls, professional drivers who do car boot sales, graphic artists who draw caricatures for the tourist market. The premise of the book is that the author simply talks to many of the people she sees on the streets of London and asks simple questions about who they are, what they are doing.