Circle of Lights to Feature Goodall and Bobby Helms Duet
INDIANAPOLIS — Richard Goodall, the Terre Haute school janitor who won Season 19 of America’s Got Talentin 2024, will team up with the late Bobby Helms for a special “Jingle Bell Rock” duet during Friday night’s Circle of Lights on Monument Circle.
Goodall’s newly recorded vocals are paired with a rare recording of Helms’ original voice from the early 1990s, discovered on a long-forgotten VHS tape by Helms’ former manager, John Kleiman.
“I had forgotten about that television show,” Kleiman said. “I recorded a little bit of it, stopped it, and Bobby walked off to the side of the studio. I asked him, ‘Do you want to record that again?’ and he said, ‘Why? Did I have the right words?’ He looked at me with a strange look and said, ‘John, that’s how I wrote it.’”
Kleiman explained that some lyrics and vocal ad-libs had changed over the years as the holiday classic went through different record labels and cover versions. “He told me which words were changed when they put the original version out to Universal. Even some of the fun parts people know weren’t in the original,” he said.
Some parts often sung by backup vocalists were actually guitar lines meant for Hank “Sugarfoot” Garland, a well-known Nashville session guitarist. “Foot could show off his guitar lead on the song,” Kleiman said.
After resurfacing the old tape and cleaning the audio, Kleiman confirmed Friday night’s performance is completely authentic. “That part of ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ for Bobby, it’s actually his voice. It’s not AI,” he said.
Goodall recorded his part earlier this month, and Kleiman says the final mix blends the two voices naturally. “I wanted to make sure Bobby was spotlighted,” he said. “Bobby’s voice is in several places throughout the song. It sounds like a regular duet the two people would do. There’s some added instrumentation, and it sounds really, really good.”
Kleiman also praised Goodall. “I hadn’t heard many songs from Richard before, but this one is pretty high level to sing, and Richard does a great job,” he said.
Kleiman managed Helms from 1987 to 1997 and remembers him as “a great guy” cherished by fellow musicians. “He was a Christian man and just a wonderful person overall. To know him was a joy,” he said.
For Kleiman, bringing Helms’ voice back to the Circle of Lights is deeply meaningful. “I’m very thankful for having Richard Goodall combined with my great friend Bobby Helms one more time,” he said. “Hearing Bobby’s voice from the Circle of Lights, this may be the last time down there. But I’m very thankful everyone is hearing it again.”
Helms, born in Bloomington and best known for his 1957 hit “Jingle Bell Rock,” died in 1997.
