What If???

Helen LaRue Lowe was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 8, 1954, the oldest of seven children. Her father was in the Army and when he was stationed in Los Angeles, Helen began performing in area nightclubs while still a teenager.

Taking the stage name Little Helen, she soon found herself opening for such stars as Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, and Stevie Wonder while also singing background for Captain & Tennille amongst others. Lowe also performed in the hit Broadway musical Hair.

In 1979, Lowe started dating James Baylor, the lighting director for Chaka Khan with whom she eventually went on tour. Unfortunately, Baylor was also a drug dealer and Lowe soon got hooked on marijuana and pain pills… and her career started to spiral downward.

Thankfully, Lowe got saved and Jesus delivered her from her drug addictions. She and Baylor, with whom she had been living, got married and soon she was recording and producing gospel music under the name Helen Baylor with her first five albums all reaching the Top Ten on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart. Her 1994 album The Live Experience climbed to #1 in 1994 and her single Sold Out was named Contemporary Gospel Song of the Year at the Dove Awards that same year.

My favorite song that Helen Baylor has written and recorded is Where Would I Be Without the Lord? Here are some of the powerful lyrics…

He kept my enemies away
He let the sun shine through a cloudy day
Oh, he wrapped me in the cradle of his arms
When he knew I'd been battered and torn

He never left me all alone
He gave me peace and joy I've never known
He answered when I knelt down to pray
And in victory, the Lord showed me the way

But I especially like the chorus, probably because it comes straight from Scripture…

If it had not been for the Lord on my side
Where would I be? Where would I be?

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side.” Psalm 124:1 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President