Helms, who played in band with Hank Williams, dies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Don Helms, a renowned steel guitarist who played in Hank Williams’ Drifting Cowboys band and on country classics by Patsy Cline and Lefty Frizzell, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 81.

Helms died Monday in Nashville at Skyline Medical Center, said Michael Thomas, a director at Forest Lawn Funeral Home.

Helms, of New Brockton, Ala., provided the signature steel guitar parts on tunes like “Cold, Cold Heart” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”

“The sound of Helms’ precise yet bluesy steel guitar (on Williams’ recordings) helped usher in a honky-tonk sound that would define country music for years to come,” the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said in announcing a program honoring Helms in 2006.