Background
Helms was born in Helmsburg, Indiana, the son of Hildreth Esther (née Abram) and Fred Robert Helms.
Helms was born in Helmsburg, Indiana, the son of Hildreth Esther (née Abram) and Fred Robert Helms.
His other hits include "Fraulein" and "My Special Angel". His family was musical. In 1956, Helms made his way to Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed a recording contract with Decca Records.
The following year was filled with successes.
Helms" first single in 1957, titled "Fraulein", went to Number. 1 on the country music chart and made it into the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Later that same year, he released "My Special Angel", which also hit Number. 1 on the country charts and entered the Top 10 on Billboard"s popular music chart, peaking at Number.
7. Released in the very late fall of 1957, his song "Jingle Bell Rock" was a big hit and was being played and danced to on Dick Clark"s teen dance show "American Bandstand" by Mid-December of that year.
lieutenant also re-emerged in 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. lieutenant took five years for the song to become a second million-seller for Helms. lieutenant reached Number. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 21 weeks in the chart.
The record gained gold disc status.
Accounts that Helms wrote and recorded the song with Hank Garland seem to be apocryphal—American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Allmusic list the writers of the song as Joseph Beal, Joseph Carlton, James Ross and James Boothe. Helms continued touring and recording for the next three decades.
His pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Helms spent most of his later years living just outside Martinsville, Indiana, until his death from emphysema and asthma at the age of 63 in 1997.
He was portrayed by actor Brad Hawkins in the 2007 film Crazy.
Another record by Helms was "Schoolboy Crush", which was a hit in the United Kingdom. lieutenant was released in the United States of America on June 23, 1958 on Decca. The same song was then covered by United Kingdom teen star Cliff Richard about the same time as the United Kingdom release.
Married Esther Marie Hendrickson. Children: Bobby Bun, Randy Scott, Debbie Kay.