Once he put some music on, something he recorded, a while ago. It was a bit dark, and I was a bit gloomy. It was winter. I started to talk, to tell a story, to create a world. That story had a soundtrack, and it was his music. One moment there was a story, one moment there was music, and then a single second later, I was standing in a complete world, of music and words. We created it together. And it was winter. I couldn’t let go, I didn’t want to see that world fading away, I had to chase him, to stick to him, and to re-create this world over and over again. To make music together. But you have to understand, I am not a musician. He is. I just tell stories.
In 1971 Gavin Bryars joined Alan Power to work on a film about the people living around the area of Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Stations in London. In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song - sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads - and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”.
Listening to the hymn later Bryars noticed that it was in perfect pitch and formed an effective loop. While working on the tape, Bryars left his studio for a few hours, leaving the door open. Coming back he noticed that the normally lively room was unnaturally subdued. People were moving slowly and some were sitting alone, quietly weeping. He was puzzled until he realized the tape was still playing, and it was the tramp’s singing that overcame the people. Bryars continued to work on the piece, and looked for the tramp to show him the final piece, but by that time the tramp had died.
The movie that the recording was made for was never released. This is a soundtrack for that movie.
Interleaved throughout the set is: Gavin Bryars and Tramp - Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet (String Quartet version)
01 - Goldmund - Marching Through Georgia
02 - Gonzales - Armellodie
03 - Adrian Klumpes - Cornered
03 - aMute - Trouver les Motst
03 - Sylvain Chauveau - Et Peu a Peu les Flots Respiraient Comme Pleaure
04 - Johann Johannsson - IBM 1403 Printer
05 - Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 2 in BB OP 19-02 - Adagio
06 - Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country
07 - Daigoro - Sleep Fish
08 - Bohren und der Club of Gore - Black City Skyline
09 - Xela - So No Goodbyes
10 - Gavin Bryars, Tom Waits and Tramp - Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
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.
From the diary of a non-musician:
In 1971 Gavin Bryars joined Alan Power to work on a film about the people living around the area of Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Stations in London. In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song - sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads - and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”.
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