Without Him by Mylon R. LeFevre

This is not a hymn but I choose this song because it has an interesting story and is one of my favorites, especially the Elvis version. I am a gospel music fan and yes I am an Elvis fan, particularly his gospel music. I know he had his demons to fight, drug abuse was one of them, but he loved to sing gospel music and sang it with a passion like no other and his gospel music is quite popular. The song “Without Him” shows the importance of following our savior as the song writer Mylon LeFevre finds out. Jesus says in John 15: 5 “Without Me you can do nothing.” Bob W. The following article is from hymnstudiesblog
A song which reminds us about the spiritual condition of those who are without Christ and have no hope in the world is “Without Him”. The original text of two stanzas was written and the tune was composed both by Mylon R. LeFevre, who was born on Oct. 6, 1944, in Gulfport, MS, the youngest son of Urias and Eva Mae LeFevre. The LeFevres were a pioneering Southern gospel music family, and when Mylon was old enough, around age five, he began to sing and play guitar with the group. The family moved around a lot. After attending a private religious high school associated with Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC, as a teen, Mylon graduated from public high school in 1992. At 18 years old, when in the Army, where he was paid $84 per month, he wrote his first song, “Without Him,” which was published in 1963 by the LeFevre-Sing Publishing Company. Stationed at Fort Jackson, SC, LeFevre hitchhiked over 600 miles to get to a gospel convention in Memphis, TN, where The LeFevres were performing. That weekend, he sang “Without Him” onstage but did not know that Elvis Presley was there. After the concert, Elvis asked to meet him. Shortly thereafter, Elvis recorded the song for his album, How Great Thou Art, and within the next year, over a hundred artists would record his song. According to LeFevre, writing the song took about twenty minutes and produced an initial royalty check of approximately $90,000. After leaving the army, LeFevre released his first solo album, New Found Joy, on Skylite Records in 1964. He then became a member of the famed Stamps Quartet (1966–1968). His aim was to write and sing contemporary music that gives glory to God and would reach unbelievers on the street by fusing rock music with the message of the gospel, but there seemed to be no place for his music—or his longer hair and long sideburns—in his family or his church. His first mainstream album, entitled Mylon, We Believe released by Atlantic/Cotillion Records in 1969, is considered by some to be the first true “Jesus Rock” album. LeFevre took the classic song “Gospel Ship” and set the familiar southern gospel melody to rock and roll tempo. However, in his music the gospel message was gradually taken over by the rock, and his lifestyle began to change dramatically with the direction of his songs. LeFevre started using drugs to deal with the stress and to fit in. His drug use escalated to a near-fatal overdose of heroin in 1973. So LeFevre committed himself to a drug treatment program that year, and seven months later, he came out clean, eventually returning to his faith, family, and gospel music. “At that time ye were without Christ…having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12) In 1980, LeFevre quit secular rock and returned to his home church, the Mt. Paran Church of God, in Atlanta, GA, where he worked as a janitor, while attending Bible-study classes. In 1981, he started a Christian band called The Gathering Ground Band, later to be renamed Airborn with some musicians he met in the Bible study. In 1982, the band changed their name to Broken Heart. Over the next ten years, the group released ten albums and traveled over a million miles. Then in mid-1989 he suffered a heart attack on a tour bus but against the physicians’ advice continued touring. In 1990, the group disbanded after the tour completed. In 1992, LeFevre inked a solo recording deal with Star Song Records and began releasing material that was less musically “edgy” than past offerings. In 2005, the Gospel Music Association Foundation (GMAF) inducted Mylon, along with Walter Hawkins, Evie Tornquist, and The Lewis Family, into the GMAF Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Following his heart attack, LeFevre increasingly turned to preaching and teaching as his vocation. He and his wife Christi minister by teaching and singing in about 75 churches a year. He sometimes can be seen on television networks, such as TBN and Daystar.                                                                                           

Without him, I could do nothing
Without him, I'd surely fail
Without him, I would be drifting
Like a ship without a sail
Jesus Oh Jesus
Do you know him today?
Do not turn him away
Oh Jesus Oh Jesus
Without him, how lost I would be                                                                                                   

Without him, I would be dying
Without him, I'd be enslaved
Without him, life would be hopeless
But with Jesus, thank God I'm saved
Jesus Oh Jesus
Do you know him today?
Do not turn him away
Oh Jesus Oh Jesus
Without him, how lost I would be
Without him, how lost I would be