Definitely Hank Garland playing those iconic guitar licks, and not knowing, but I would almost bet that the guitar in the recording is some kind of a Gibson. Hank Garland and Billy Byrd were collaborating with Gibson about that time on the Byrdland guitar. I think Wiki says (or I read somewhere else) that it’s the third most played Christmas song. 10Īnyway, for about the last ten years or more, it feels like it's become one of the most played holiday songs on the radio. I think that that guitar must have been the short-scale model. Probably artistic choice: a two-tone guitar with large juicy f-holes is more '50's looking than the typical sunburst alternatives. But I tend to accept it even when overkill occurs, because the guitar licks just keep getting me. That can be good and bad, depending how often you turn the radio on. If we go out somewhere in the car and have Christmas music on, I'd say there's about 87% chance of hearing it within the first fifteen minutes. Anyway, for about the last ten years or more, it feels like it's become one of the most played holiday songs on the radio. Smith playing it during a break on SNL somewhere in the 90's. The song was never much on my radar in my earlier years (say 1960ish to 1990ish?), but I took notice of it again when I saw/heard G.E. do we know what guitar Garland was using on that? I've been kind of curious about that for some years. I'm glad his hit has an Indiana connection, but sorry it's not a Gretsch playing those iconic licks. Wonder why the artist hit upon a Gretsch for the mural. Also, WC Handy was based in Evansville for part of his career, and the WC Handy Blues Festival is held annually across the river in Henderson, KY.īut I didn't know about Bobby Helms. Eventually a community foundation was established, and he played there for its fundraisers from 1981. And Roy Clark came every year to Linton, IN to play a school auditorium gig as part of his friend Phil Harris's golf tournament. Bill Monroe had his bluegrass festival (still held, and the longest-running in the world) in Beanblossom, just a short hop from Helmsville. Also Junior Brown (originally from an unincorporated not-even-really-there not-even-wide-spot-in-the-road place name used as the name of a road less than two miles from the log cabin I no longer live in). (We take what we can get.) Most notably, probably are Hoagy Carmichael (Bloomington) and John Mellencamp (Seymour, but now north of Bloomington). My little quadrant of Indiana has a bit of musical history, and the trivial tidbits can't help but stick to me. Where else? I've been through the little burg a few times. I tried to Wiki before I posted (from my iPhone, from my mother-in-law's remote outpost on a windswept Ohio prairie), but couldn't get to Google.īut of COURSE Helms was from Helmsville. 4īobby Helms was an Indiana boy and lived out his later years, up until his death in 1997, outside of Martinsville, IN. Here's one, misnamed Corvette, as these frequently are. 1956 (full-bodied) 6187 Clipper, Lotus Ivory top and Platinum Grey everywhere else. Backup singers were the Anita Kerr Quartet. An electric guitar played by Hank Garland can be heard playing the first notes of the chorus of "Jingle Bells". It makes brief references to other popular songs of the 1950s, such as "Rock Around the Clock", and mentions going to a "Jingle hop". The song's title and some of its lyrics are an extension of the old Christmas standard, "Jingle Bells". I just finished brushing up on this for tomorrow’s family sing-along.įrom Wikipedia: “Jingle Bell Rock" has been performed by many, but Helms' version is the best known. Historical accuracy on an amateur civic mural? Or accident and coincidence? Is that a real Gretsch model or a composite artist's conception? Was a Gretsch used in JB Rock? Who played it? Was Bobby Helms from Martinsville, IN? Sure enough, Gretschy-looking headstock, but no logo. I did a double-take while driving through to pick up my Sausage McBiscuit because it looked like a Dynasonic on the guitar (and that's unusual in any generic electric guitar depiction), so I doubled back around. On the cement-block side wall of a store in a strip mall adjacent to McDonalds' drive-thru in Martinsville Indiana there is a mural celebrating local history and cultural contributions.Ī section of the mural depicts an archtop, non-cutaway electric guitar, the head of a 50s-looking dude, and a 45-rpm record of "Jingle Bell Rock," credited to Bobby Helms.
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