Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

Song infobox
Name = Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Type = Song
Artist = Gavin Bryars
Written = 1971
Genre = Minimalism
Length = 25',40',60',74'
Writer = Gavin Bryars

"Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars. It is formed on a loop [Schaefer, John. "New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music". Harper & Row, 1987. 59. ISBN 0-0605-5054-6] of an unknown tramp singing a brief stanza. Rich harmonies - comprised of string and brass - are gradually overlaid over the stanza.

The piece was first recorded for use in an Alan Power documentary which chronicles street life in and around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo, in London. When later listening to the recordings, Bryars noticed the clip was in tune with his piano, and that it conveniently looped into 13 bars. [Howse, Christopher. "The Assurance of Hope". Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006. xix. ISBN 0-8264-8271-6] For the first LP recording, Bryars was limited to a duration of 25 minutes; with the invention of cassette tape technology, Bryars was able to complete a 60 minute version of the piece, and later with the advent of the CD, a 74 minute version.

The studio in which Bryars recorded the piece was next to a busy art studio. When constructing the piece, Bryars unintentionally left the loop playing and his door open during a lunch break; when he returned, the usually lively studio was quiet, and some people were crying - Bryars attributed this to the somber mood created by the tramp's singing. The tramp, whose voice was featured in the recording, died before Bryars had finished constructing the piece. [ [http://www.gavinbryars.com/Pages/jesus_blood_never_failed_m.html Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet] GavinBryars.com.]

Versions

A further recording was made in the 1990s with Tom Waits singing along with the original recording of the tramp during the later sections. The piece has been performed with accompanying dance. [ [http://www.thehorizons.com/review/rev30.htm] ] Its first performance was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in December 1972, and it was first recorded for Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975. In 1993, William Forsythe used the piece as the score for his short work Quintett for the Frankfurt Ballet.

Jars of Clay released their own version of the song on their 2003 album, Who We Are Instead.

References