Bobby Helms

I've spent many days - possibly weeks - trying to decipher the Christmas music of Bobby Helms. With one glaring exception, it is a morass of poorly distributed, shoddily packaged, all-but-undocumented bargain basement releases. I've pored over reference books and scoured the internet trying to figure out exactly what Helms recorded, when he recorded it, and how it was released. Eventually, I mostly figured it out (more on that in a minute), but I concluded (predictably enough) that it starts and ends with "Jingle Bell Rock," his rockabilly-flavored smash from 1957.

After hustling for a few years in his native Indiana, Bobby Helms made it to Nashville and signed to Decca Records in 1956, thanks in part to the support of Ernest Tubb. Helms launched his career in spectacular fashion the next year with "Fraulein" and "My Special Angel," two #1 Country hits, the latter of which made the Pop Top 10. Then, he recorded "Jingle Bell Rock" with a crack band that included Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland on guitar and Owen Bradley on piano, plus the Anita Kerr Singers. It zoomed to #6 Pop and #13 Country, then charted again four of the next five years. "Jingle bell time," Bobby insisted, "is a swell time," but he would only grace the pop charts a few more times - though he remained a fixture on the country circuit for decades before dying in 1997.

"Jingle Bell Rock," however, became a musical archetype and would register on the Christmas charts for years to come - even more so in the age of digital streaming. Further, it shows up like clockwork on Christmas albums of every stripe, either in Helms' snappy Decca original, or one of his numerous remakes, or in one of thousands of cover versions by other artists. The definitive version is Helms' Decca master, though, and that's the one found on reputable compilations like MCA's Rockin' Little Christmas and Christmas Hits. The original Decca 45-rpm record, by the way, featured the wonderfully goofy "Captain Santa Claus And His Reindeer Space Patrol" on the flipside. Both songs are included on the brief A Bobby Helms Christmas EP and Bear Family's expansive Fraulein: The Classic Years two-CD set, which Universal later reissued almost intact as a digital album, The Classic Years: 1956-1962 (2019).

Jingle Bell Shuffle

Before we move on, it's worth noting that "Jingle Bell Rock" was written by two otherwise obscure songsmiths named Joe Beal and Jim Boothe, and according to Hank Garland, it was originally called "Jingle Bell Hop." Both Helms and Garland claimed that they essentially turned it into a different - and much better - song. "There was no bridge, and some of the words didn't rhyme," said Helms. "Me and Sugarfoot fixed it and added stuff to it. We practically rewrote the damn thing." For his part, Garland later filed suit against Decca for back royalties, but to no avail.

So, that much is clear, and Bobby Helms' Decca recording of "Jingle Bell Rock" stands like Colossus astride the world of modern Christmas music. After that, it starts to get murky, and it only gets murkier as the years roll by. Helms' hot streak with Decca cooled off by 1960, with his last release for the label - the aptly named "Yesterday's Champagne" - dropping in 1962. After that, he began shuffling through a long string of increasingly obscure labels. First, he recorded a couple of failed singles for Columbia in 1963 and 1964, though he had enough material in the can for the label to release a full album in 1967 on their budget imprint, Harmony Records. Then, he signed to Kapp Records, where he managed two albums and several more singles in 1965 and 1966. None were hits, but among them was Bobby's second reading of "Jingle Bell Rock," recorded in 1965 and backed "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle," written by Burt Bacharach.

In 1967, Bobby Helms signed to Little Darlin' Records, a newly minted indie label started by record man Aubrey Mayhew and singer Johnny Paycheck - then years away from his "Take This Job And Shove It" commercial heyday. Helms' tenure at Little Darlin' was more productive, yielding two albums and numerous singles, including four country chart hits - albeit minor ones, with none breaking into the Top 40. More to the point, he recorded his third reading of "Jingle Bell Rock" - are you sensing a theme? - this time backed with "I Want To Go To Santa Claus Land," an original song written by Helms.

It's Such A Pretty World

In 1970, Aubrey Mayhew folded Little Darlin' into a new label, Certron, and Bobby Helms recorded his first Christmas album titled - wait for it - Jingle Bell Rock. The album consisted of 12 tracks, including nine predictable holiday standards, new versions of "Jingle Bell Rock" and "I Want To Go To Santa Claus Land," and one new original song, written by Paycheck and Mayhew. All were newly recorded in July 1970 in Nashville, Tennessee, with Mayhew producing. We're not at the end of the story - not even close - but it's primarily the Certron recordings that have endlessly recycled throughout the years. Back in the 70's the album was reissued numerous times by labels with names like Mistletoe, Holiday, and Rudolph, usually with some variation of the original yellow Certron cover art. In the digital age, it's been sliced and diced so many times that even I lost count.

Arguably, the best reissue of the assorted Mayhew-produced recordings is a Koch Records compact disc called A Little Darlin' Christmas (2004), which includes both sides of the 1967 Little Darlin' single, filled out with the rest of the Certron recordings. Plus, it includes several previously unreleased holiday tracks by Helms' labelmate, Johnny Paycheck. Formally speaking, this album is not available for download or streaming, but Gusto Records, which now owns the Little Darlin' catalog, has issued their own version of A Little Darlin' Christmas for streaming only.

Much later, Bobby Helms recorded a completely new Christmas album called I Want To Go To Santa Claus Land for an obscure label called Pretty World Records based in Liberty, North Carolina. The new tracks were recorded in 1985 at Doc's Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with Charlie Ammerman producing. More recently, the same recordings have been reissued as simply Christmas (2010) on some streaming services and on CD as Jingle Bell Rock: Special Nashville Edition (2018), though the latter has been tinkered with.

Like the Certron recordings, the Pretty World masters get reissued willy-nilly, and the songs overlap considerably. While the two albums share a whopping nine titles, it's easy to tell which batch of recordings you are dealing with. The original songs "The Old Year Is Gone" and "Christmas Time In My Home Town" are unique to the Certron sessions, while "Another Christmas Without You" is unique to the Pretty World recordings.

What Would Bobby's Mother Say?

So, that's a lot of musical evidence with a poorly documented chain of custody. But, the part of Bobby Helms' Christmas catalog that surprised me the most is how many times he recorded "Jingle Bell Rock." It's hard to say, though: Bobby's own mother probably couldn't tell you how many times he recorded his signature song - or tell the recordings apart. But, we're gonna try.

By 1970, Helms had recorded "Jingle Bell Rock" four times for four labels: Decca, Kapp, Little Darlin', and Certron. From there, he would record at least five more versions for as many labels. After a lot of sleuthing and a lot of help - especially from PragueFrank, Discogs, and a 2011 post (now deleted) by Lee Hartsfeld on his blog, Music You Possibly Won't Hear Anyplace Else - I've tracked most of them down and can fill in some details. The recordings range in length from under two minutes to nearly three (and the actual times vary a bit from the listed times), and most are fairly close copies of the Decca original. Some, you will hear, are very much not, as they introduce elements of western swing, traditional country, and southern rock.

• 
  1957
  Decca 9-30513 (1957, 2:12)
  For reference, let's start with Helms' original recording of "Jingle Bell Rock" that we discussed above. It was produced by Paul Cohen at Bradley's Barn in Nashville, Tennessee, and it prominently featured the guitar of Hank Garland, as well as the piano of studio owner Owen Bradley. The single was backed with "Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol)," one of the kookiest songs in my vast Christmas collection. For the record, no producer is listed on the record, but I confirmed Cohen's role in the detailed liner notes of Bear Family's Fraulein collection. This original recording wouldn't appear on a proper Bobby Helms album until 1983, when it closed Pop-A-Billy, an MCA collection of his Decca recordings.
• 
  1965
  Kapp K-719 (1965, 2:00)
  Interestingly, Helms' first new version of his greatest hit was also produced by Paul Cohen in Nashville, but those are about all the details I've been able to learn. It very much resembles the Decca version, though it has its own distinct sound. The single stiffed, and it's never been reissued in the digital age, even though the Kapp masters are now owned by the same company, Universal Music, that also owns the Decca masters. On the flipside, we find "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle," one of Burt Bacharach's only Christmas songs. It's cute, but it's no "Alfie" or "I Say A Little Prayer"...
• 
  1967
  Little Darlin' LD-0038 (1967, 1:50)
  Label owner Aubrey Mayhew produced the third version of "Jingle Bell Rock" at RCA Studios in Nashville, and it has a much more country feel than the previous recordings, prominently featuring the steel guitar of Lloyd Green. This particular version doesn't show up too often, but it can be found on A Little Darlin' Christmas (2004), which otherwise features the 1970 Certron recordings. The b-side is a Bobby Helms original, "I Want To Go To Santa Claus Land," which he would also revisit several times. Be aware that this record was reissued in 1978 as Little Darlin' LD-7809, with that date on the label.
• 
  1970
  Certron C-10021 (1970, 2:07)
  Again, Aubrey Mayhew produced this version of "Jingle Bell Rock" for his new label, Certron Records, and it served as the title song for the original Jingle Bell Rock album. It sounds even more countrified than the Little Darlin' version, with a loping western swing feel to it. The 45 release included a picture sleeve version of the LP cover, and it included an original song, "The Old Year Is Gone," written by Johnny Paycheck and Mayhew, on the flipside. The Certron masters appear to have been sold to Springboard Records, which subsequently reissued the album through both their Mistletoe and Trip subsidiaries. This version of "Jingle Bell Rock" was also included on a Mistletoe two-record set called Happy Holidays, credited to the Mistletoe Singers and members of the Mistletoe Orchestra. Later, Springboard was subsumed by Gusto Records after filing for bankruptcy.
• Ashley AS-4200 (1971, 1:42)
  This "Jingle Bell Rock" was produced by Leon Ashley for his own label, Ashley Records, and it's the most mysterious of all the versions. At least, I have yet to find a copy or even hear it, and it appears to have never been reissued in any format. If you have a copy you'd like to share, please email me, and let's work out a trade! Anyway, it was the b-side of "Let's Keep The Christ In Christmas," which appears to be a different composition than similarly-titled songs recorded by Tammy Wynette in 1970 and Loretta Lynn in 1974. And, by the way, Leon Ashley was a singer in his own right, best remembered for his 1967 #1 Country hit, "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)."
• 
  1972
  Dominion (1972, 2:00)
  Well, this version is pretty mysterious, too, doubly so because it's a near note-for-note copy of the Decca version. Without hearing them side-by-side, I don't think I could tell them apart - though this version certainly lacks the sparkle that made the original so great. I discovered it on a UK Virgin collection called Christmas Memories... Are Made Of This (2004), which specifies that it is licensed from Dominion Entertainment, a subsidiary of budget behemoth K-Tel, copyright 1972. Thanks to K-Tel's wide reach, it is now one of the most common "rerecorded" versions of "Jingle Bell Rock" in streaming services. But, I have not been able to track down its point of origin. Any clues, readers? Please email me!
• 
  1974
  Power Pak PO-507 (1974, 1:57)
  Bobby Helms recorded this easygoing "Jingle Bell Rock" for Christmas Album, a 1974 collection released by Power Pak, a subsidiary of Gusto Records. The album was reissued by Gusto proper in 1975, the same year Helms recorded Sings His Greatest Hits for Power Pak. Weirdly, Gusto also now owns the Little Darlin' catalog, and they have reissued A Little Darlin' Christmas for streaming. These days, Gusto's business model is basically hoovering up other labels, and their holdings are massive, including the catalogs of storied labels like King, Scepter, Starday, and Federal.
• 
  1983
  Black Rose 82713 (1983, 2:40)
  Here's another fairly mysterious version of "Jingle Bell Rock" recorded in 1983 for another Aubrey Mayhew label, the short-lived Black Rose Records. It is far and away the most radical reinterpretation of the song, with a full-tilt southern rock boogie that wouldn't feel out of place on a Molly Hatchet album. But, I'm not even sure it got a commercial release, as the only copies I've seen are promotional pressings with the same song on both sides.
• 
  1985
  Pretty World PWA-001 (1985, 1:49)
  Bobby Helms recorded the ninth and final "Jingle Bell Rock" for Pretty World Records, based in Liberty, North Carolina, at Doc’s Studio, Hendersonville, Tennessee. It was produced by label owner Charlie Ammerman, and it appeared on the album I Want To Go To Santa Claus Land. The whole album has a very middle-of-the-road vibe to it and, with the exception of "Another Christmas Without You," a new original song written by Billy Wilhite and Ernie Cash, it consists entirely of songs Helms had previously recorded.
  

Giddy Up, Jingle Horse!

So, holy hell, that's a lot of "Jingle Bell Rock." And, it's more than worth noting that all but the most ardent Bobby Helms fans won't find a lot to like in the rest of his holiday music. Most of it consists of the same old titles like "Jingle Bells" and "Winter Wonderland," and he was clearly aiming for the middle-aged, middle-American audience. Which is to say, not exactly hip.

At any rate, Bobby Helms spent the rest of his career far from the spotlight, and his catalog is in shambles - a fact that makes discographical research very difficult. I should know... No matter, you don't need much besides Helms' biggest hit - "Jingle Bell Rock" on Decca. That's where it started, and that's where we end.

Well, except - a quick word about the eye patch. In part thanks to hard living, Bobby Helms struggled with a litany of health problems, and he eventually lost the use of his right eye. So, on many of his album covers in the 70's and 80's, he's wearing an eye patch. It was not an affectation, but it did look kinda cool, huh?

Postscript

Almost every year sees the release of some sort of Bobby Helms Christmas product. In 2024, Universal - the company that now owns Helms' Decca and Kapp masters - released A Bobby Helms Christmas, a five-song EP highlighted by both sides of his 1957 Decca single, "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Captain Santa Claus." Then, they threw in two Kapp sides from 1965, "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" and "Those Snowy, Glowy, Blowy Days Of Winter," neither previously reissued in the digital age, plus a silly 2022 remix of the Decca version of "Jingle Bell Rock."

But, they left off the 1965 Kapp version of "Jingle Bell Rock," which had also never been reissued in any digital format. So, close but no cigar. Universal could have closed the book on Helms' early Christmas catalog with just one more song, but they went for cheap exploitation instead. I wish I could say I was surprised.... [top of page]