The recordings were originally made for a movie. A full length soundtrack for the movie that never existed is available here.
Tramp with Orchestra IV (full strings) [MP3]
Tramp and Tom Waits with Full Orchestra [MP3]
When I copied the loop onto the continuous reel in Leicester, I left the door of the recording studio open (it opened onto one of the large painting studios) while I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual, and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping. I was puzzled until I realized that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man’s unaccompanied singing.
From Wikipedia:
Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a piece of music composed by Gavin Bryars in 1971. It is based around a recorded loop of an un-named tramp improvising a hymn; eventually rich harmonies are played by a live ensemble of strings and brass, always increasing in density. The recording was originally made for a 1960s documentary by Alan Power which chronicled street life in London. Later when listening to the recordings, Bryars noticed that the clip was very in tune, and that it looped well into 13 bars. The tramp died before being able to hear the completed piece.
Links:
Wikipedia Article
Gavin Bryars
More about the recording
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5 Comments
theres one thing that i know
that he loves me so
THANKS!
in nneeded that
I never heard a record like this one…
if you can buy it, it’s worth
Robert
The Little Tramps singing (with Gavin Bryars wonderful & blessed backing) has moved so many people, and brought us to really look at our daily walk! Here is a little unknown man (now sadly passed on without knowing how he has changed the lives of people) who is a the bottom of life’s pile and yet he doesn’t lose his love of Jesus or his understanding of the power of the Blood of Jesus. If our life should go this way we hope we are just like the Little Tramp, unknown by man but known by/of Jesus, and never forgoing our belief in Jesus! The Love of Jesus is above our earthly circumstances.
I thank Gavin Bryars for his understanding of this man’s singing. The Little Tramp sung by himself yet never lost the tune’s key, was in perfect pitch, and believed in what he was singing; this is a miracle!
All our Love… Eric & Jenny
I don’t think it got anything to do with the content of the hymn, but more with its place in the cultural world. Nobody is talking here about the “power” of the blood of Jesus, and I personally think it’s, like many other religious crap, another myth designed to repress the masses and control them. I was tempted to delete the above comment, but I will leave it. However, if a drunk homeless is your idea of a devout Christian, that just to show the foolishness of religion and the way it parasites on the poor and helpless.
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