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Bobby Helms music biography continued...

on his father Fred's Monroe County Jamboree, singing while brother Freddie played guitar. He wound up contributing background vocals for an Ernest Tubb record and Tubb introduced him to executives at Decca Records, who gave him a recording contract in 1956. Helms' debut single, "Fraulein," initially fared poorly in January 1957 but then hit number one on the country chart in April. (The song also hit the pop Top 40 in July of 1957.) In October, Helms released another number one, "My Special Angel," which stayed four weeks at the top and crossed over to number seven pop. Helms' next recording was "Jingle Bell Rock"; though Decca released it only two days before Christmas 1957, the single still peaked at number six on the pop chart. Uniquely, it also re-emerged four out of the next five years, and sold so well that it repeated each time as a top hit, and became a Christmas classic still played to this day.



Helms toured throughout the '60s and recorded two albums for the Knapp label. In 1966, he came out with I'm the Man and Sorry My Name Isn't Fred -- a nod either to brother Freddie or father Fred. Two years later, he released All New Just for You on the Little Darlin' label. Several singles placed modestly on the country charts during 1967-1968, including "He Thought He'd Die Laughing" and "So Long." The 1970 Certron single "Mary Goes 'Round" was his last hit, but Helms recorded Pop-a-Billy for MCA as late as 1983. Helms spent most of his later years living just outside of Martinsville, Indiana, until the time of his death from emphysema and asthma, at the age of 63 in 1997, leaving behind timeless classics that resonate with listeners to this day.