# Don Helms > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Don_Helms > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Don_Helms.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Helms > Source revision: 1309587803 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Don Helms Born Donald Hugh Helms (1927-02-28)February 28, 1927 New Brockton, Alabama Died August 11, 2008(2008-08-11) (aged 81) Nashville, Tennessee Genres Country, honky-tonk Occupation Musician Years active 1942–2008 Website Don Helms official Myspace Musical artist **Donald Hugh Helms**[1] (February 28, 1927 – August 11, 2008) was an American musician who was the [steel guitar](/source/Steel_guitar) player of [Hank Williams](/source/Hank_Williams)'s [Drifting Cowboys](/source/Drifting_Cowboys) group.[2] He was a member of the [Steel Guitar Hall of Fame](/source/Steel_Guitar_Hall_of_Fame) (1984).[3] ## Biography Helms was a featured musician on a vast number of Hank Williams recordings and provided the high, piercing signature steel guitar sound on more than 100 of Hank's songs and on 10 of his 11 number-one country hits.[4] Bill Lloyd, the curator of stringed instruments at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said of Helms: "After the great tunes and Hank's mournful voice, the next thing you think about in those songs is the steel guitar. It is the quintessential honky-tonk steel sound — tuneful, aggressive, full of attitude." Lloyd also credits Helms's sound as a major influence in shifting the sound of country music away from the hillbilly string-band sound popular in the 1930s and toward the more modern electric style that became prominent in the 1940s.[4] Helms played a double-neck 1948 Gibson Console Grande steel guitar, which lacked the foot pedals found on a more modern [pedal steel guitar](/source/Pedal_steel_guitar), which did not come into prominence in country music until after Hank Williams's death in 1953. He tuned the outside neck to A C# E G# B C# E G# (low to high), which he called E6, and the inside neck to F# A B D# F# A C# E, which he called B13. Almost all of Don's classic leads were done on the E6 neck. He used the B13 neck for fills. After Williams's death, Helms went on to play on many classic country hits, including [Patsy Cline](/source/Patsy_Cline)'s "[Walkin' After Midnight](/source/Walkin'_After_Midnight)", [Stonewall Jackson](/source/Stonewall_Jackson_(musician))'s "[Waterloo](/source/Waterloo_(Stonewall_Jackson_song))", the [Louvin Brothers](/source/Louvin_Brothers)' "[Cash on the Barrelhead](/source/Cash_on_the_Barrelhead)", [Lefty Frizzell](/source/Lefty_Frizzell)'s "[Long Black Veil](/source/Long_Black_Veil)", and [Loretta Lynn](/source/Loretta_Lynn)'s "[Blue Kentucky Girl](/source/Blue_Kentucky_Girl_(song))."[4] Donald Hugh Helms was born in [New Brockton](/source/New_Brockton%2C_Alabama), Alabama, and performed with many [country music](/source/Country_music) artists throughout the years, including playing steel guitar on Lefty Frizzell's recording of "Long Black Veil". In the late 1950s, Don played on several early [Johnny Cash](/source/Johnny_Cash) recordings on [Columbia Records](/source/Columbia_Records), *[The Fabulous Johnny Cash](/source/The_Fabulous_Johnny_Cash)*, *[Now, There Was a Song!](/source/Now%2C_There_Was_a_Song!)* and *[Hymns by Johnny Cash](/source/Hymns_by_Johnny_Cash)*. During the mid-1960s, Helms played in the [Wilburn Brothers](/source/Wilburn_Brothers) backup band, the Nashville Tennesseans. He later played behind Hank Williams's daughter [Jett Williams](/source/Jett_Williams). Helms also played for [Hank Williams Jr.](/source/Hank_Williams_Jr.) and wrote "The Ballad of Hank Williams", which he performed with Hank Jr. on *[The Pressure Is On](/source/The_Pressure_Is_On)* LP released in 1981. In the song, Don jokingly refers to being fired by both Hank Sr. and Hank Jr. He also performed with Jett Williams, Hank Sr.'s daughter, and with David Church, a Hank Williams tribute artist. 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*[\[1\]](http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/joeyallcorn1) in early 2008, followed by sessions with Teresa Street, and then what is believed to be his final session, with [Vince Gill](/source/Vince_Gill) recording unfinished Hank Williams Sr. tracks. ## Death Helms died on August 11, 2008, in Nashville, Tennessee, from complications of heart surgery and [diabetes](/source/Diabetes). ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-nytimes_1-0)** Grimes, William (August 17, 2008). ["Don Helms, 81, who put the Twang in the Hank Williams songbook, is dead"](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/arts/music/17helms.html). *The New York Times*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-yah1_2-0)** ["Steel guitarist Don Helms dies in Nashville"](https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080813/en_nm/helms_dc_5). *Yahoo! News*. August 13, 2008. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-scottsghof_3-0)** Scott, DeWitt. ["The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame/"](http://www.scottysmusic.com/hofplq.htm). *scottysmusic.com*. The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 6, 2021. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NYT2008_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NYT2008_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-NYT2008_4-2) Grimes, William (August 16, 2008). ["Don Helms, 81, Who Put the Twang in the Hank Williams Songbook, Is Dead"](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/arts/music/17helms.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved May 1, 2010. ## External links - [Don Helms official Myspace page](https://www.myspace.com/donhelmsshag) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States Artists MusicBrainz Discography of American Historical Recordings --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Don Helms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Helms) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Helms?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.