Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

"Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet"
Arrangement by Gavin Bryars
Genre	Minimalism
Length	25', 40', 60', 74'
Songwriter(s)	unknown

Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a 1971 arrangement by Gavin Bryars of a composition by an unknown composer. It is formed on a loop of an unknown homeless man singing a brief stanza. Rich harmonies, comprising string and brass, are gradually overlaid over the stanza. The piece was first recorded for use in a 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. For the first LP recording, Bryars was limited to a duration of 25 minutes; later Bryars completed a 60-minute version of the piece for cassette tape; and with the advent of the CD, a 74-minute version. It was shortlisted for the 1993 Mercury Prize.

Bryars says:

The original 25-minute version of the piece was first performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in December 1972, and recorded for Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975. The 74-minute version was recorded in 1993 for the Point label with Tom Waits singing along with the original recording of the man who was homeless during the later sections.

In 1981, choreographer Maguy Marin used the piece as the score for her Beckett-inspired work May B.

In 1993, William Forsythe used the piece as the score for his short work Quintett for the Frankfurt Ballet. The piece was later performed with accompanying dance.

In 2003, Christian band Jars of Clay covered it on their sixth full-length studio album Who We Are Instead on Essential Records.

...
Wikipedia