Don Helms (February 28, 1927 - August 11, 2008) was a steel guitarist best known as the steel guitar player and last surviving member of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys group.
Donald Hugh Helms was born Feb. 28, 1927, in New Brockton, Alabam. He got his first steel guitar when he was 15, and by 18 he was playing with Williams in juke joints around the south. After serving in the army during World War II, Helms re-joined the Drifting Cowboys when Williams became a star on the Grand Ole Opry in 1949.
Helms played with Williams on and off for about decade, from 1943 until 1953 when Hank Williams died from just
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Bill Lloyd, the curator of stringed instruments at the Country
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Helms played a double-neck 1948 Gibson Console Grande steel guitar, which lacked the foot pedals found on a more modern pedal steel guitar, which did not come into prominence in country music until after Hank Williams' death in 1953.
Here's a 1953 recording of "Swing Shift Bounce" taken from above album.
After Williams' death, Helms stayed in demand as a session player and went onto play on dozens of classic recordings such as Patsy Cline's “Walkin' After Midnight,” Lefty Frizzell's “Long Black Veil,” Ernest Tubb's “Letters Have No Arms,” and Stonewall Jackson's "Waterloo." Helms recorded with most every great Country-Western star of the day,
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In the late 1950s Don played on several early Johnny Cash recordings on Columbia Records, "The Fabulous Johnny Cash", "Now, There Was a Song!" and "Hymns by Johnny Cash". During the mid-1960s Helms played in the Wilburn Brothers backup band, The Nashville Tennesseans. He later played behind Hank Williams' daughter Jett Williams.
Don Helms played for Hank Williams Jr. in addition to his ad, and wrote "The Ballad of Hank Williams" which he performed with Hank Jr. on The Pressure Is On LP Released in 1981. In the tune Don jokingly refers to being fired by both elder Hanks. He also performed with Jett Williams, Hank
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His last four known sessions were (in order) with Mark David and The Nightly Lights on November 15, 2007, Joey Allcorn's album All Alone Again in early 2008 followed by sessions with Teresa Street and then what is believed to be his final ever session with Vince Gill recording unfinished Hank Williams Sr. tracks.
Don Helms also wrote a book of reminiscences of his time playing in the Drifting Cowboys titled Settin' the Woods on Fire -- Confessions of Hank's Steel Guitar Player, published in 2005.
Mr. Helms was a regular performer at steel guitar
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Helms died aged 81, on August 11, 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee from complications of heart surgery and diabetes.(Info edited from Wikipedia & amobea.com)