While Hank Williams is widely recognized for helping to usher in the “Golden Era of Country Music,” the unmistakable wailing, weeping sound of his Drifting Cowboys came courtesy of the man behind the steel guitar — Don Helms.

The Alabama native bought his first guitar, a Silvertone lap steel, at Sears at age 15, and just two years later joined Williams, then a young radio personality, as one of the original Drifting Cowboys. In 1949, Helms moved to Nashville with Williams, and the two commenced to making country music history. Helms played his Gibson Console Grande on a number of Williams’ classic hits, including “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”

Helms, a 1984 inductee into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, enhanced his legend on recordings with Patsy Cline, Lefty Frizzell, Ernest Tubbs, Johnny Cash, Ray Price and Loretta Lynn. Today, he lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with Hazel, his wife of more than 60 years, and is still performing and recording.