They recorded a demo at Sun Studio with the engineer Jack Clement, who was impressed and recommended Van Eaton and the band's bass player, Marvin Pepper, to the singer Billy Lee Riley, who was forming a touring band, the Little Green Men.
[2] During the week he worked as a session musician at Sun, becoming the studio's in-house drummer from 1956 to 1959 and performing on most of the label's rock-and-roll recordings.
[3] He featured notably contributed to records by Jerry Lee Lewis, such as "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", on which he regularly played with the guitarist Roland Janes.
[1] Van Eaton played on some recordings for other Memphis labels, but after moving to Philadelphia with Riley's band he married and drifted away from music in the 1960s.
[1][2] In 1998, as J. M. Van Eaton, he released an album, The Beat Goes On, featuring his own songs and vocals In addition to drums.