 |
After making history as
the first drummer in Rock and Roll history as a member
of the legendary Carl Perkins' band, W.S. "Fluke"
Holland spent 40 years keeping a steady beat for Country
Music legend Johnny Cash. Untarnished by the limelight,
Fluke continues to reside in Jackson where he remains
involved in the business he loves.
Playing music was the farthest thing from W.S. Holland's
mind as he grew up in West Tennessee, but he had the
rhythm - a rhythm shared by a band of local boys and a
handful of others who, with the help of Sun Record
Company in Memphis, unleashed a phenomenon in America
that quickly spread across the ocean to Europe. Rock and
Roll took the world by force, its contagion carried on
the rhythm set in motion by the beat of Rock and Roll's
first drummer, W.S. "Fluke" Holland.
"I was the first one to play drums on Sun," relates
Fluke from a comfortable chair in the loft of the
rural-suburban Jackson home that reflects his success in
the music business. "Elvis didn't have drums at first -
he started with Bill Black on bass and Scotty Moore on
guitar; Carl didn't have drums- he started with
(brothers) Clayton and JB; John Cash didn't have drums.
Nobody had drums but people ask me now what the most
important musical instrument is in Rock and Roll or
Rockabilly and I tell them drums - not because I play
them."
He sets into a toe-tapping beat, slapping out a rhythm
on the arm of his chair as he explains that, before Rock
and Roll, Hank Williams did some up-tempo songs.
"Hey-hey, good looking," he sings, in time with the
steady beat that in early country songs was supplied by
the "thump rhythm" of the guitar player's hand against
the body of the instrument, then, without missing a
beat, he launches into Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes",
demonstrating the same rhythm continues in Rock and
Roll.
"When we put drums to the music it was called Rock and
Roll," he says, "The guitar, bass, and piano were
already there; it was country 'til drums were added."
BEGINNINGS
W.S. was born on April 22, 1935 in Saltillo, a small
town on the Tennessee River, to Gurley and Willie
Holland. His sister Mabel (Freeman) had married when she was
sixteen, so when their father died when W.S. was
just ten years old, he and his mother were on their own.
They moved to Bemis, south of Jackson, in 1948, where
Fluke attended J.B. Young High School. He'd earned his
nickname by coining the term "flukus" to describe
indiscriminate objects.
"What's that flukus?" he would ask about an object
others might refer to as a "doohickey" or "thingamabob".
After one person began saying, "Here comes Flukus" when
he would show up, the name stuck, eventually being
shortened to Fluke.
Over half a century later, more people know him by
"Fluke" than by W.S., laughs Joyce, his wife of 43
years. W.S. is his entire given name, following a
practice of naming by initials that was common in the
era in which he was born. In fact, he shares, Johnny
Cash was born, not Johnny, but J.R. Cash.
Fluke was working at the S.M. Lawrence Company after
graduating from high school when he met Clayton Perkins.
"Him and Carl and their other brother J.B. had a little
band and played at clubs all around and I'd go with
them," he says.
One night after a show Carl asked him to borrow some
drums and accompany the group to Sun Record Company in
Memphis where they were scheduled for an audition.
"I can't play drums," Fluke protested, though his
objection fell on deaf ears. He had already proven his
affinity for the position during shows when he would
walk up to Clayton's string bass and keep time against
its side.
"I didn't know not to so I borrowed some drums. I set
them up at my mom's one day and the next time I played
them was at Sun Records. We got the recording contract
that day," Fluke grins, the excitement of his first
victory undimmed by the success of half a century. From
Sunday to Thursday, he says, he went from not knowing
how to play the drums to playing them on the group's
first recording, "Movie Magg" which was released in
April, 1955.
"It was about, 'Let me take you to the movie, Magg, so I
can hold your hand... Climb up on old Becky's back and
we'll ride down to the picture show," he laughs.
"Blue Suede Shoes" was the group's third, wildly
successful, recording; the first record to hit number
one on all three charts - country, blues, and pop.
Such was the power of the new Rock and Roll, or
"Rockabilly" as the new attitude in music eventually
came to be known.
"When we started Rock and Roll, I don't know who came up
with Rockabilly," Fluke says, settling a bit stiffly
into his chair, "They should have left Rock and Roll
what we did and gave some other term to what they do now
because I don't know what it is."
Nonetheless, Fluke accepts the word and goes on to
explain the power behind the phenomenon. "Rockabilly
came out of Memphis and Mississippi," he says. In 1954,
Elvis got his start at Sun Records a few months before
Carl Perkins and his band - including W.S. - were signed
the same year. Then came Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis
to round out Sun's "Million Dollar Quartet" session,
which featured W.S. as drummer.
Following the famous four were other greats like Roy
Orbison and lesser known but "great entertainers" Sonny
Burgess, Bill Riley and Warren Smith.
The hybrid country and rhythm and blues sound was
dominated by a new, raw energy that manifested itself in
Elvis' gyrations and the Perkins brothers' and other
performers' wild leaps and other behaviors that crazed
audiences.
Sun's founder Sam Phillips hired Bob Neal to head the
Stars Incorporated booking agency that kept the Sun
artists busy performing within a 150 mile radius of
Memphis, including Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas.
W.S. toured with Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Roy
Orbison and Johnny Cash "as a package."
"After two or three years people started leaving," Fluke
relates. Elvis left Sun for RCA, Carl Perkins signed
with Columbia as did Johnny Cash, who moved to
California.
"It was getting into the late 1950's and Sun was fading
away," he continues.
In 1959, Fluke shared with Sam Phillips the talent of
Huntingdon native Carl Mann. When Sun signed Mann to a
three-year contract, Fluke was drummer on his first hit
single, "Mona Lisa". Fluke was also instrumental in
helping Rayburn Anthony and Little David Wilkins achieve
success with Sun Records.
FLUKE JOINS JOHNNY CASH IN 1960
The following year, Johnny Cash asked W.S. to be his
drummer for a two-week stint beginning at the Steel Pier
in Atlantic City and ending at Three Rivers Inn in
Syracuse.
In the dressing room one evening, Fluke told Johnny he
had just gotten married and was planning to find a
regular job after the two-week tour.
"I'd like you to play every show as long as I'm in show
business," Cash countered.
"I thought, 'Well, that sounds like a regular job,'"
Fluke jokes, "I went up there for two weeks and those
two weeks have been 40 years."
With Fluke's fulltime addition to Johnny's band, the
Tennessee Two - guitarist Luther Perkins and bass player
Marshall Grant - became the Tennessee Three and W.S.
faced another first when the group was scheduled to
appear on the Grand Ole Opry.
"For some reason there were no drums in country music,"
Fluke says, readdressing the evolution of drums in
modern music. Traditionally, the Grand Ole Opry had
prohibited drums from their stage.
"They had finally allowed snare drums and brushes," he
continues, "But mine was the first set ever played on
the Grand Ole Opry (in the Ryman Auditorium.) When I
carried that set in - right after joining Johnny Cash in
1960 - they didn't want me to set them up. I did
though."
"Listen to Elvis' first record and John Cash's first
record," he suggests, recounting one method of keeping
the beat using the upright bass. "It sounds like drums
but they're slapping it; they slap and pull (the
strings) back, making it sound like a drum. It might
still be that way if I hadn't not known what I was doing
and went over there with a set of drums."
The years to follow included between one and four tours
to Europe or Australia each year in addition to some
1500 songs on about 500 albums. Cash's hit singles
include over 100 Country hits since Fluke joined the
group (about 130 in all) with a total of 48 tunes listed
on the Billboard Top 100 Pop charts, according to the
official Johnny Cash website.
They were the first Country Music act to play Carnegie
Hall and entertained at the White House for four
different presidents.
W.S. also played for the Statler Brother's release,
"Flowers on the Wall", Marty Stuart's first video,
"Hillbilly Rock" and Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline"
album. He continued as drummer and road manager for
Johnny Cash until 1997 when illness forced the singer's
retirement.
Cash gave W.S. the nickname "Father of the Drums" to
commemorate his contributions to Rock and Roll,
Rockabilly and Country Music. Fluke was further honored
when he was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Last year, he received an award from Sun Records for his
contribution as a drummer.
AT HOME WITH JOYCE
These days, Fluke relaxes easily in the luxurious home
he shares with his wife Joyce. Sitting at their wide
dining room table, beyond which French doors overlook
the shimmering waters of their landscaped brick patio
and pool area, the couple lock eyes as they recount the
circumstances of their meeting some 46 years ago at the
"Teenagers Club" run by Arthur Jarrett in Jackson.
"It was a really neat place," recalls Fluke. Joyce would
drop by the club with her girlfriends during breaks from
her job with the telephone company.
The chemistry between the two sparkles as one wonders
whether Joyce's coy refusal of Fluke's advances or his
continued efforts played the biggest role in their
union.
Regardless, Joyce finally consented and the pair dated
for several years before the uptown girl and southside
gentleman married in 1960.
"So far its been real good; it's lasted 43 years," says
Fluke, "she's a pretty special person."
The couple's children, Krista Holland and Kim Lovelace,
and grandchildren Ben (7) and Lyndsey (16) all live
nearby, to the delight of the Hollands, who have made
Jackson their home throughout their marriage.
"We lived in Bemis awhile, then moved into Jackson on
Campbell Street for 15 years, then lived on
Christmasville Road for over 20 years," Fluke says,
pleased with their decision to remain in their hometown.
They moved from their former home, which was situated in
the middle of 100 acres, to their current estate five
years ago.
In the loft area of their new home, mementos of Fluke's
golden career include his first, black and silver
marbled drum set, his burgundy velvet band uniform with
black velvet collar and the black and white linen suit
coat he was wearing in a 1955 issue of the European
magazine, "Now Dig This".
Behind his original drum set (one of two sets on
display) are awards and photos, one of which captures
the excitement of early Rock and Roll as Clayton Perkins
appears suspended in a leap of energy during the group's
performance.
"He was flying, wasn't he?" declares Fluke.
Two styles of blue suede shoes supplied by the Douglas
Shoe Company during the Perkins' early years survived
the ages since they were worn. One wall is covered with
gold and platinum albums earned during the many years as
Johnny Cash's drummer, as well as a golden single
attached to a plaque on which is inscribed, "To W.S.
Holland: A small token of my appreciation of your
valuable contribution to the production of my million
dollar seller, "Ring of Fire". -Gratefully, Johnny
Cash."
At 68, Fluke credits his continued good health to a life
of sobriety. "I've so far made it without ever taking
any kind of drug or smoking anything or ever tasting an
alcoholic beverage," he shares, adding with a grin, "I
can do anything about as good as I ever could, but see,
I never could do anything any good so that works out
great."
THE MUSIC CONTINUES
Fluke looks forward to the fourth Rockabilly Fest
scheduled to be held at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in
Jackson on August 8, 9 and 10.
"Lots of artists are coming from worldwide,"says Fluke.
(For more information about the festival see
www.rockabillyhall.org.)
He also enjoys making music with Stan Perkins, Carl's
son.
"He plays guitar and does a real good job; I really
enjoy playing with him," he says.
Most recently, W.S. recorded the CD, "Rockabilly
Reunion", with a group called the "Rockabilly Masters."
In addition to W.S., the group is made up of Kim Curtis
(band leader, rhythm guitar, and vocals); Paul Burlison
(lead guitar and songwriter); C.W. Gatlin (lead guitar
and vocals); Jerry Lee "Smoochy" Smith (piano & vocals);
and J.T. Morgan (bass guitar & vocals).
The CD includes a drum solo performed by W.S. entitled
"Drum Time" that seems to wrap up the rhythm of the last
50 years in a tidy package of success for Rock and
Roll's first drummer, who plans to continue making music
well into the future.
"I'm not ever considering quitting as long as I can hold
a drum stick and somebody will let me play with them,"
he smiles.
Read more about Rockabilly Masters' members and how to
obtain a CD or booking of the group at
www.rockabillyhall.com/rockabilly country.html. |
|
