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Rockabilly drummer W. S. Holland speaks to History of Rock Music class

Posted 4/9/2008

It was a full house for Jen Gunderman’s History of Rock Music class Wednesday, April 9, at Saratt Cinema as Vanderbilt students and area musicians were given the opportunity to experience a bit of rock ‘n’ roll history first-hand.

W. S. Holland, who was a member of Johnny Cash’s band, the legendary Tennessee Three, for nearly four decades, entertained students and guests with anecedotes of his days working with the founding fathers of rockabilly at Sun Records and beyond.

Holland, 72, got his break in music in 1954 when he was invited by Carl Perkins to accompany him on an audition for Sun’s owner, Sam Phillips. Holland had recently struck up a friendship with Perkins at a local club where the future rock ‘n’ roll hall of famer and his brothers played. In a matter of a few days, Holland borrowed a drum kit and learned the basics well enough to help Perkins and his band pass the audition. A few months later the group recorded “Blue Suede Shoes” and the group’s star was on the rise.

After six years with Perkins, Holland decided to get married,  settle down and leave the music business behind him, but it was not to be. One week later, Johnny Cash called and asked the drummer to accompany him on a short New York tour.  Holland says: “Those two weeks lasted almost 40 years.”

During his tenure with Cash, Holland recorded and toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe, performing for Queen Elizabeth, U.S. presidents, and the inmates of Folsom and San Quentin prisons.

After a short Q & A, Holland performed a drum solo, “Drum Time,” that he returned to Sun Studios to record a few years ago. When asked by a student about his fondest memory of Cash, Holland responded with a grin, “Getting his autograph on a paycheck every week.”

Contact: Chris Skinker, (615) 322-NEWS
chris.skinker@vanderbilt.edu

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