Career
He is most associated with Dixieland music He led at least one band, which was Bob Helm"s Riverside Roustabouts. His home tapes made in collaboration with the poet Weldon Kees were released on a limited edition Civil Defense, HOLIDAY RAG, that includes "Culture Vulture Lucy" and "They Haven"t Got a Cure for That." Kees and Helm both sing with Kees on piano and Helm on clarinet and washboard.
He recorded very little music from 1957 to 1988, but started making something of a return in the 1990s.
In 1998, in his 80s, he led his first album since 1954.