The Man in Black’s drummer

WS „Fluke“ Holland

W.S. Holland, more commonly known by his nickname “Fluke” was the drummer in Cash’s band, the legendary Tennessee Three. Before he started playing for Johnny, Fluke had already played the drums for Rock'n'Roll heroes like Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. The 81 year old is still performing with his own band today.

When he wanted to drop out of the music business in 1960 to start a more “respectable” career as an engineer, Johnny Cash made him an offer: “I want you to play all my concerts as long as somebody wants to listen to me playing.” What Fluke didn’t know then was that he would play the drums for Cash for nearly 40 years, till 1997. Among others, he played the drums on the original recordings of country classics like “Walk the Line”, “Ring of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues”.

Holland’s nickname “Fluke” dates back to the time when he was with Carl Perkins in 1954. They then recorded the rock'n'roll classic “Movie Magg” in the legendary Sun Recording Studio in Memphis. Everything went well though Holland had only started playing the drums 2 day before the recording – a real “fluke”.