{"id":2033,"date":"2013-08-15T11:34:30","date_gmt":"2013-08-15T15:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christmasclassics.com\/christmasmusic\/?p=2033"},"modified":"2013-09-10T14:35:32","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T18:35:32","slug":"person-of-the-day-bobby-helms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/christmasclassics.com\/christmasmusic\/person-of-the-day-bobby-helms","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Classics PERSON OF THE DAY: Bobby Helms"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this day in 1933, Robert Lee Helms was born in Bloomington, Indiana. Better known as Bobby Helms, he was a country singer and the original recording artist of Jingle-Bell Rock<\/i><\/strong><\/span>, the first Christmas holiday song noted for its rock n\u2019 roll flavor. It was released by Decca Records on December 23, 1957, a hundred years after the copyright of Jingle Bells<\/span>,<\/i><\/strong> which may not have been totally coincidental. The song rapidly rose to #6 on the Pop Charts and has since been reprised every Christmas season.<\/p>\n

Bobby Helms rise to stardom actually began earlier that year with the release of Fraulein<\/i><\/strong><\/span>, a country song, which to the surprise of country aficionados, fared well on the pop charts, and later in 1957 with My Special Angel<\/i><\/strong><\/span>, Helms\u2019 biggest hit that sold over a million records.<\/p>\n

Jingle-Bell Rock<\/i><\/strong><\/span>, <\/i>however,<\/i> was the brainchild of an very unlikely pair of the songwriters:\u00a0Joseph Carleton Beal, a public relations man and author, and Texas-born James R. Boothe whose career was largely devoted to advertising.\u00a0 Jingle-Bell Rock<\/i><\/strong> <\/span>was their sole claim to fame in the world of Christmas music.<\/p>\n

Although Bobby Helms continued a productive career in country music that included touring with his Bobby Helms Show and promoting a yearly musical festival in his native Indiana, not to mention he owned three night clubs, he never again achieved the soaring heights when Jingle-Bell Rock<\/i><\/strong><\/span> topped off what was a very, very good year.<\/p>\n

\"Bobby<\/a>

Bobby Helms<\/p><\/div>\n

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