In Memory of Don Helms (1927 – 2008)
It is difficult to know what more to say about Don Helms that hasn’t been said in the hours since his death. While the legacy of Hank Williams the singer and songwriter clearly was not dependent upon anything or anyone else, the legacy of the Hank Williams sound, as exemplified by such classic recordings as “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” was greatly enhanced by the lonesomeness of Don Helms’ steel guitar. The signature Williams sound, of which Helms was so much a part, greatly influenced an entire generation of country singers, from Webb Pierce to Faron Young to George Jones.
After the death of Hank Williams, Don continued to perform, sometimes as a session musician such as when he played on Brenda Lee’s recording of “Jambalaya.”
Once Jett Williams, the illegitimate daughter of Hank Williams, had legally established her entitlement to her father’s legacy, Helms was one of the first members of the Nashville country establishment to welcome her into the fold. In her 1990 autobiography, Ain’t Nothin’ Sweet as My Baby, Jett recounted the feeling of liking Helms and Jerry Rivers (Hank’s fiddle player) upon their first meeting and hoping someday to be friends with them both. Before long she thought of Helms as “Uncle Don.”
On his website yesterday, Whispering Bill Anderson described Don Helms as “…one of the funniest men and finest human beings it has ever been my privilege to know.”
Helms dated back to a time when an excellent four or five piece band and a good singer were all that were needed to make great country music. No drums, no light shows, no production tricks in the recording studio–just good music. The death of Don Helms–one of the last of Hank Williams’ Drifting Cowboys–at 81 years young, marks the end of an era. Bill Anderson put it best when he said “I consider myself so lucky to have known and traveled and existed in the presence of Don Helms. His music will live forever. I just wish he could have done the same.”
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August 13, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Paul, thanks for writing that nice tribute to Don. As an important contributor to the sound of some of the greatest country songs of all times his legacy will live on in perpetuity as it should be. Traditional country music fans may argue which stringed instrument most denotes or delineates a “country sound”, whether it be a fiddle or banjo or mandolin or the steel guitar, but for me its a steel guitar played the way Don played it.
A side note: At the time Aussie Catherine Britt was first signed by Joe Galante to RCA when she was 17, she was obsessed with Hank Williams Sr. and his musical legacy. During the recording of her first RCA album “Too Far Gone” she asked if Don Helms could be brought in to contribute as a session player on a song and her wish was granted. Here’s a comment made on an Aussie fan site: “Hank Williams’ original steel player, Don Helms, guests on one track playing the same pedal steel that was heard on all of Hank’s hits!”. I wonder how many of today’s younger country artists sought out Don’s services as a session musician……
Johnny Gimble is another of these great musician legends that won’t be around forever, so I urge folks to see him perform while they still can…
August 13, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Paul,
I love Hank’s songs and voice, but it’s the steel guitar that really cements my love for Hank Williams music. Thanks for the great tribute to Don Helms as the artist and the person.
August 13, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Very nice tribute.
August 13, 2008 at 9:09 pm
It was nice to see this wonderful tribute to Don. My brother always dreamed of playing music with him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Q9zYuFQms
August 14, 2008 at 3:46 am
Dear Mr. Dennis,
We have taken the liberty of posting your excellent tribute to Don Helms on our Alabama Talk Line Forum @ URL:
http://pub3.bravenet.com/forum/243824250/fetch/747507/
Sincere Regards,
Tom Lipscombe
Web Administrator
August 15, 2008 at 11:17 am
Ref. Don Helms and his steel !
We were very lucky when we recorded The Story of Hiram ,Don got off the plane from a job with Jett and did not have the time to wait for his things ,so he left them at the AP and went to his house and picked up his original steel for the recording session . He wanted to know if it was Okay to use his old steel . We THANKED HIM many times . The Story is about the Life and Death of Hank and with us being from Georgiana ,Alabama and the fact that Robbin lived in Hank’s boyhood home when he penned it is almost priceless . Listen to the Story and decide for yourself . The song sounds as if Hank could have wrote it and with Don and his original steel it is an original .
Don was a great man that truly liked to play for people and he would take the time to sit and talk with you if he had the chance .
He will be missed by so many folks ! But I bet you that Heaven is sounding alot like DIXIE when those friends of his all sit down and sing a few songs . What a Grand Place for such GREAT . Thank You DON again Howard Lofton LoMac Records Hank’s hometown Georgiana ,Alabama
August 18, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Paul and 9513–Let me add my voice to those thanking you for the nice Helms tribute. I think his instrument was the most important to Hank’s sound, especially in the way it kicked off several of the tunes. Don started playing with Hank in ’44, when Don was 18, but he didn’t start recording with him until January 1950. If you compare songs before and after that, I think you can hear how the songs got just a little better, even if Hank recorded some classics without him.
I was at Don’s funeral, and I heard a couple of great quotes. One was from someone who once asked Don how long he’d been on the road. Don’s response: “Ever since there was a road to be on.”
There’s just one slight correction: Don didn’t play on “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” That’s Jerry Byrd, also a great steel player. It was cut in the last Hank session of 1949, when he was still using session players brought in by Fred Rose. Hank used the Drifting Cowboys from 1950 to the last session in Sept. 1952.
August 18, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Don’s steel guitar opening to ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’: perhaps the eleven most significant notes ever recorded in Country Music.
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