Volatile Attractions Saul Holiff, Johnny Cash, and Managing a Music Legend

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Introduction

Volatile Attractions: Saul Holiff, Johnny Cash, and Managing a Music Legend is a digital exhibit featuring materials from the archives of Saul Holiff, the Canadian manager of one of the most iconic figures in American music history: Johnny Cash. Holiff, who started out as a concert promoter in the late 1950s in London, Ontario, managed Cash from 1961-1973, by turns the most tumultuous and remarkable years of the singer’s career, and resigned at the pinnacle of Cash’s success. The Holiff Family fonds, held at the University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections, contains photographs, letters, audio recordings, diaries, and memorabilia that Holiff carefully accumulated during his career and preserved until the end of his life. 

The exhibit is intended to be an extended biographical sketch of Saul Holiff. The title of the exhibit, Volatile Attractions, is named after Holiff's management company. He chose it as a reference to the unpredictability of the stock market, but it is also an apt way of describing his turbulent relationship with Cash, whom he managed for over a decade. To learn more about Holiff's life and career, enter the exhibit by clicking on the icons below. You can consult a timeline of Holiff's life, enter the main exhibit, or browse items from the collection such as letters, photographs, audio recordings, and video clips. 

For information about visiting the University of Victoria Special Collections, see our About page.

Items in this collection are available for research, teaching, or private study under this Creative Commons license agreement. For all other uses, please see our About page to contact us.