Description
Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet is an album by the British composer and double bassist Gavin Bryars with the American singer/songwriter Tom Waits, released on Point Music in 1993. Engineered and mixed at The Looking Glass Studios in New York City with Tom Waits’ vocals recorded at Prairie Sun Recording in Cotatti, California. Pre-production/tape preparation at Dave Hunt Studio in London; Cedar Audio in Cambridge; Nick Gilpin, Autograph.
Music composed by Gavin Bryars (Original version © 1971). Additional vocals performed by Tom Waits.
Album liner notes
In 1971, when I lived in London, I was working with a friend, Alan Power, on a film about people living rough in the area around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. 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». This was not ultimately used in the film and I was given all the unused sections of tape, including this one.
When I played it at home, I found that his singing was in tune with my piano, and I improvised a simple accompaniment. I noticed, too, that the first section of the song – 13 bars in length – formed an effective loop which repeated in a slightly unpredictable way [in the notes for the 1993 recording on Point, Bryars wrote that while the singer’s pitch was quite accurate, his sense of tempo was irregular]. I took the tape loop to Leicester, where I was working in the Fine Art Department, and copied the loop onto a continuous reel of tape, thinking about perhaps adding an orchestrated accompaniment to this. The door of the recording room opened on to one of the large painting studios and I left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have 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 realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man’s singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the homeless man’s nobility and simple faith. Although he died before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as an eloquent, but understated testimony to his spirit and optimism. [Gavin Bryars]
Serendipity: unexpected but pleasant discoveries. One of my local music shops was playing this piece – I think Classic FM had featured it. I heard only a few minutes but was entranced. I bought the CD in order to listen to it all. If it was on vinyl I would be on the way to wearing it out. My initial thought was to submit a Touched By A Song but as the album is still available perhaps a review is not inappropriate. In 1971 Gavin Bryars worked on a soundtrack for a film about people living rough in London. One clip of an old man singing a hymn was not used in the film. Bryars then made a tape loop which became the foundation of a moving orchestral and choral work. In 1975 a version came out on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records label. The advent of the CD has allowed Bryars to develop the piece. On one level we have an old man singing five lines of a hymn over and over for 74 minutes. But we also have a beautifully constructed suite. First a string quartet, then various orchestral combinations, a chorus and finally Tom Waits (who says that the original version was his favourite recording) join in. I do not have the musical vocabulary to do justice to this work. “Minimalist” seems inadequate. I can, though, give a personal, subjective response. I enjoyed this more than any contemporary classical work that I have ever heard. I am not ashamed to say that it reduced me to tears. I cannot comment on the religious outlook of Gavin Bryars, Tom Waits or the unnamed tramp but between them they have created something deeply spiritual. Was it Adrian Plass who commented that God’s angels can be found in the most unlikely places? [Steven Whitehead, Cross Rhythms, August 1995]
As the story goes, composer Gavin Bryars received a collection of recordings from a friend who’d been making a documentary about London’s homeless population. He discovered that one of the recordings, of an old man singing a simple spiritual refrain, was in tune with his piano. He created a simple loop of the recording and left it playing in the studio while he went out for some coffee. When Bryars returned, though, he discovered that the room’s mood was markedly different, with some people openly weeping.
He writes: “I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man’s singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the homeless man’s nobility and simple faith.”
Multiple versions of Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet have been recorded and released over the years, including one for Brian Eno’s Obscure label. This version, released in 1993, features Tom Waits adding his voice to that of the homeless man. It’s a simple concept on paper, taking a loop and slowly enhancing and bolstering it with swelling string arrangements. But it makes for a deeply moving and even devastating experience. Much like Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 (another one of my favorites), I don’t listen to Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet all that often, but it’s left a significant mark on my soul nevertheless, and whenever I do listen to it, I inevitably begin weeping myself. [Jason Morehead, Opus, February 1, 2026]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/jesus-blood-has-never-failed-me-yet/1452183544)
CD tracklist
01. Tramp with Orchestra I (String Quartet) – 27:05
02. Tramp with Orchestra II (Low Strings) – 15:16
03. Tramp with Orchestra III (No Strings) – 4:48
04. Tramp with Orchestra IV (Full Strings) – 6:06
05. Tramp and Tom Waits with Full Orchestra – 19:38
06. Coda: Tom Waits with High Strings – 1:47
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