Country Music Legends

Country Musics Unsung Legends: Don Helms

By admin ⋅ June 9, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

One name you don’t hear too much on the radio or CMT is Don Helms. However, Helm’s has had an amazing impact on country music. For instance:

As a member of Hank Williams’ Drifting Cowboys, Don Helms achieved legendary status as one of the most important sidemen in country music. The sound of Helms’ precise yet bluesy steel guitar on “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)” and numerous other Hank Williams hits helped usher in a honky-tonk sound that would define country music for years to come.

Using a high E6 tuning, Helms’ direct, hard-edged playing perfectly complemented Williams’ stark lyrics and simple chord changes. The licks resonated sharply from his 1949 Fender Pro amplifier creating a distinct “Helms sound” that elevated him and Williams to the status of other great instrumentalist-singer duos like Bashful Brother Oswald and Roy Acuff, and Little Roy Wiggins and Eddy Arnold.

In addition to playing on numerous Hank Williams cuts and on Ray Price’s early 1950s hits, Helms’ session credits include classic recordings such as Lefty Frizzell’s “Long Black Veil,” Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight,” and Stonewall Jackson’s “Waterloo.” Helms has also toured and recorded with country music legends including Johnny Cash, Ferlin Husky, Loretta Lynn, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, Ernest Tubb and the Wilburn Brothers.

For more about the life of Don Helms