If it had not been for the Lord


I. Origins & Initial Recordings

In 1980, American gospel musician and composer Margaret Pleasant Douroux (1941–) was music director of Greater New Bethel Baptist Church in Inglewood, California, a church she had helped launch with her brother, Rev. Earl Alfred Pleasant, in 1976. At the time, she was also working as a school psychologist for Los Angeles City Schools. Her explanation of the song’s conception is brief:

I composed “If it had not been for the Lord on my side” on my way to choir rehearsal one night while driving. While in meditation on the Word of God, God gave me the song and I resolved to teach it that night to the choir. It was nobody but God, it was God ordained.[1]

The song was recorded three times in 1980. The order of those recordings is not completely clear, but the presumed sequence follows below.

A—Gospel Music Workshop of America

The process probably began with her friend James Cleveland, who was a popular gospel recording artist and who operated an annual convention called the Gospel Music Workshop of America. The 1980 convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from August 10 to 15, and Douroux’s song was offered to the convention’s mass choir. Traditionally, songs for the convention’s choirs go through a submission process; how far in advance Douroux would have needed to submit her song for use in Philadelphia is unknown. The annual convention typically culminates in a recording session, would probably have been on the last day, August 15.

Douroux was an important figure in this annual tradition. Gospel music scholar Raymond Wise explained:

The convention was also known for the many composers who wrote and presented gospel songs at the yearly conventions that became popular throughout the nation. One composer who was extremely significant was Margaret Douroux. Margaret Pleasant Douroux, the daughter of the late Rev. Earl A. Pleasant—one of America’s greatest gospel preachers, evangelists, and composers—composed such songs as “Give Me a Clean Heart,” “Don’t Wait Too Late,” “If It Had Not Been for the Lord on Our Side,” “Come Unto Jesus,” “Trees,” “I Need the Lord,” “He Decided to Die.” Most of these songs were initially presented at the Gospel Music Workshop of America.[2]

On the GMWA recording from Philadelphia, I Give My All to You (Savoy SGL 7058), a double album, “If it had not been for the Lord” appeared on the second LP disc. The track runs a full eight minutes. It features a choir with two soloists (Norma Pleasant Christmas & Teresa Williams), piano (Donald Vails), electric organ (Wayne Evans), guitar (Steffon Harmon), and sparse drumming (Karl Ragland) in a stately tempo conducted by Margaret Douroux. Generally alternating between verses and the chorus, between soloists and choir, the form is C V1 C V1 C C V1 C V2 C V1 C V1 C—the second verse being offered only once against the first’s five.

   

B—Tammy Faye Bakker

Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband Jim were famous televangelists whose broadcasting operations were based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tammy was a singer. For her 1980 album The Lord’s on My Side (PTL Club), she used five compositions by Douroux, the featured track being “If It Had Not Been.” The song was issued first as a 45-rpm single (B-side: “Gone”). Douroux’s connection to the Bakkers is unknown, and the timing of these releases is not well documented, but the Bakkers had advertised a special program on 25 October 1980 called The Lord Is on Your Side, which could have been devoted to promoting the new album.

Bakker’s interpretation of the song, clocking in at 4:13, features a full band and orchestra and vocal group arranged by Thurlow Spurr and Paul Johnson. Perhaps the most notable difference between this performance and the GMWA performance is the way the vocal group sings responsively behind the Bakker’s solos at the verses. The overall structure of this rendition is C V1 C V2 C V1 C V2 C.

In 1980, the PTL television network claimed to draw between 3 and 5 million viewers every day across 50 states and 37 countries.[3] Douroux later credited the Bakkers with giving her enough exposure to become a full-time musician:

Douroux got a boost outside black churches in the early 1980s when Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker recorded her “We’re Blessed” and “If It Had Not Been for the Lord on My Side.” Because her husband earned a good living, she soon quit her school job to pursue music further.[4]

   

C—Rev. Clay Evans

The song was also recorded by Rev. Clay Evans (1925–2019), founder of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, who had a regular television program on cable TV on Sunday mornings and was established as a recording artist. A 45-rpm single (Jewel 275) was issued via Jewel Records (Shreveport, LA), dated November 1980, using an arrangement credited to Royal L. Warren. This recording was later included on his album He Knows How Much We Can Bear (Jewel LPS 0174, 1982). His choir was called The Ship. Accompaniment included piano, electric bass, electric organ, and drums. Structurally, Evans omitted the second verse and tagged the line “Where would I be” before returning to the first verse and fading out at 4:16, yielding C V1 C V1 C C tag V1.

Evans’ connection to Douroux is unclear. Most likely, he learned of the song via GMWA channels.

 
 

II. Additional Recordings

One particularly influential recording of the song was made by Helen Baylor for Helen Baylor Live (Verity, 1999), which was nominated for a Dove Award and a Stellar Award, and it was included on the successful compilation WOW Gospel 2001.

In 1994, Douroux was part of a group of gospel artists recruited by Bill Gaither for a video project related to his Homecoming series. The session included “If it had not been for the Lord,” sung by Jennifer Holliday, accompanied by Donald Vails (who had accompanied the original GMWA recording), and Douroux can be seen at the end of the song embracing Holliday. The entire video was released much later as Gospel Pioneer Reunion (2016).

 
 

III. Printed Publication

The printed record of this song is more difficult to establish. When the song was presented at the GMWA convention in Philadelphia, the choir was given leaflets. Traditionally, composers are required to submit scored versions of their songs to GMWA in order to be considered for inclusion. The survival of these leaflets is presently unknown. One attendee who remembers being present for the introduction of the song said, “It was her usual style of large notes, simply scored, and her directing it with much confidence.”[5]

Official scores seem to have been limited to distribution at workshops and conventions. An official score provided by the composer to Damian Price for his 2020 dissertation is identical to a copy held by the Andrew Carnegie Library at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. On the official score, the song is dedicated to Rev. Melvin Wade and Mt. Moriah Baptist Church (the church where her father had been pastor). The score also clearly connects the song to Psalm 124.

 
 

In spite of the song’s immediate and enduring popularity, it has not been included in songbooks or hymnals produced for African American churches, such as Lift Every Voice and Sing (1981), Songs of Zion (1981), the AMEC Bicentennial Hymnal (1984), Lead Me, Guide Me (1987), or even later collections like the African American Heritage Hymnal (2001) or New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition (2001). Its earliest known appearance in a songbook of any kind was in For the Living of These Days (Smyth & Helwys, 1995).

IV. Analysis

Douroux’s song is a loose paraphrase of Psalm 124. The first phrase of the chorus is almost a direct quote from verses 1 and 2. Her first stanza is a summary of the persecution by enemies described in the Psalm, as well as the distress of natural disasters (literal or figural). Her second stanza is a more generalized statement of God’s providence and intercession. In keeping with the gospel choir style for which this was written, the vocal harmonies are parallel, and the chorus is notable for its use of space after “had” and “not” (and according to common performance practice, “been”).

African American scholar Raymond Wise placed the song in the context of its time:

Douroux started a trend among Black gospel composers during the 1960s for writing “word based” songs. Word based suggests that the songs contained thought-provoking lyrics aimed at the transformation of the listener. While [Herbert] Brewster was known for his poetic use of text in gospel songs, Douroux and others such as Andrae Crouch, Robert Fryson, Carol Antrom, and Michael McKay represented members of the younger generation who carried on the tradition started by Brewster. Their texts were so thought-provoking that their songs were easily distinguishable.[6]

Douroux herself named the song in the context of the larger culture of African American church music:

One of the most interesting facts I often discuss in my seminars is that the chronology of Gospel Music matches the events occurring in society. The music of Black America changed according to the landmark changes in the culture. When we were slaves, we sang a slave song that originated mostly from the pain of slavery. The song expressed the pain of slavery but also the faith that God would deliver. “Nobody Knows the Trouble I Seen” to “Over My Head I Hear Music in the Air.” When we learned to read and write, we sang an educated song from the hymnbook. First, we sang the hymn imitating the European style. Then, we added our own Black music flavor. When Black America marched for freedom, we sang freedom songs based on songs from the Black Church: “We Shall Overcome,” “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “Move On Up a Little Higher.” The contemporary song includes Traditional Gospel to Hip-Hop. From Traditional songs like, “If It Had Not Been for the Lord on My Side” to Contemporary “Why I Sing.” Black church sacred music always sings according to what is happening in the culture. We sing according to where we are.[7]

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
9 Sept. 2024

Footnotes:

  1. Damian Price, Give Me a Clean Heart: The Life and Music of Margaret Pleasant Douroux (Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University, 2020), p. 80.

  2. Raymond Wise, Defining African American Gospel Music by Tracing Its Historical and Musical Development From 1900 to 2000, PhD diss. (Ohio State University, 2002), 130–131; see also p. 191.

  3. “She’s not your typical preacher’s wife,” The Post Crescent, Appleton, WI (5 Jan. 1980), p. A-5.

  4. Larry Gordon, “A place to sing about,” Los Angeles Times (16 Oct. 2006), p. A16.

  5. Email correspondence with Ronn Norfleet, 5 September 2024.

  6. Raymond Wise, Defining African American Gospel Music (2002), 131.

  7. Christopher Heron, “Dr. Margaret Douroux,” Black Gospel (Oct. 2005): Archive.org

Related Resources:

C. Michael Hawn, “If It Had Not Been for the Lord,” History of Hymns, United Methodist Discipleship Ministry (16 Sept. 2015):
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-if-it-had-not-been-for-the-lord

C. Michael Hawn, “If It Had Not Been for the Lord,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology:
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/i/if-it-had-not-been-for-the-lord

“If it had not been for the Lord,” Hymnary.org:
https://hymnary.org/text/he_kept_my_enemies_away