W.S. “Fluke” Holland, who was Johnny Cash’s drummer, according to his obituary, Holland died on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at his home in Jackson, Tennessee, following a short illness. He was 85.
Holland was born in Saltillo and was a graduate of J.B. Young High School. A year after graduating, he joined the Carl Perkins Brothers band in 1954 and toured with them for six years before joining Cash’s band in 1960.
He toured with the Carl Perkins Brothers band until 1960 when he joined Cash as a member of The Tennessee Three and later The Great Eighties Eight and The Johnny Cash Show Band, touring with Cash as the country star’s drummer and road manager until Cash retired in 1997. Holland, who Cash nicknamed “Father of the Drums,” remained active with his own band through 2019. Before he began playing with Cash, Holland played drums on the 1955 Sun Records recording of “Blue Suede Shoes” and performed on the “Million Dollar Quartet” session featuring Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
He’s survived by his wife, Joyce, and two daughters – Kim Lovelace and Krista Holland.
