"Jesus' blood never failed me yet
never failed me yet
Jesus' blood never failed me yet
There's one thing I know
For he loves me so..."
No me acuerdo en que año escuché por primera vez este disco, pero jamás podré olvidar la impresión que dejo en mi anima la voz de ese desechable (tramp) cantando ese carismático verso, repetido una y otra vez en esta minimalistica tonada de 74 minutos.
Duré meses andando las calles, con esa canción en la cabeza, escarbando los mercados en busca del disco, para asi poder exorsizar mis oidos de esta pegajosa melodía. Anduve y anduve y anduve hasta que logre olvidarlo....
"Jesus' blood never failed me yet
never failed me yet
Jesus' blood never failed me yet
There's one thing I know
For he loves me so..."
Despues de años de olvido, me tropecé con él en un agáchese en Ibagué, y aqui está, para que ustedes también puedan disfrutar de este mantra.
Datos Curiosos:
... Conducted by Michael Riesman
Tom Waits sings with the tramp....
1 Tramp with Orchestra I (string quartet)
2 Tramp with Orchestra II (low strings)
3 Tramp with Orchestra III (no strings)
4 Tramp with Orchestra IV (full strings)
5 Tramp and Tom Waits with Full Orchestra
6 Coda_ Tom Waits with High Strings
Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet
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. 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 tramp'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.
The piece was originally recorded on Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975 and a substantially revised and extended version for Point Records in 1993. The version which is played by my ensemble was specially created in 1993 to coincided with this last recording.
Gavin Bryars.