Paul Tanner

Paul Tanner was born on October 15, 1917, in Skunk Hollow, Campbell County, Kentucky. Tanner had five brothers, and each could play an instrument. Tanner learned to play the trombone at a reform school where his father was employed as superintendent. Tanner and his brothers were playing in what he described as a “strip joint” when Miller heard him and offered him a position in his band.

Tanner gained fame as a trombonist, playing with Glenn Miller and His Orchestra from 1938 to 1942, the group’s entire duration and recorded all of the band’s hits including “In the Mood” and “String of Pearls.” He often said “Everything the Glenn Miller Orchestra did from 1938-1942, I did.” When it disbanded, Tanner joined the U.S. Army Air Force, becoming a part of the 378th Army Service Forces Band at Ft Slocum, New York. He later worked as a studio musician in Hollywood.

Tanner earned three degrees at University of California, Los Angeles – a bachelor’s in 1958 (graduating magna cum laude), a master’s in 1961, and a doctorate in 1975. He also was influential in launching UCLA’s highly regarded jazz education program in 1958. He then became a professor at UCLA and also authored or co-authored several academic and popular histories related to jazz. Among his students was a young songwriter named Brian Wilson who was forming a band and took an interest in the electronic music Paul would play in class.

He developed and played the Electro-Theremin, which like the Theremin produced eerie sounds, only Paul’s Box (as he liked to call it) was operated by a wire in the back and not by waving your hands as the original required. Paul felt this made his instrument more consistent to start and end on the same tone, which is just what Brian Wilson was looking for to begin his now classic recording of “Good Vibrations.” He can be heard performing on the opening title theme music of the 1963–66 CBS-TV comedy series “My Favorite Martian”. The Electro-Theremin is featured on several 1966–1967 recordings by The Beach Boys, with Tanner as the guest player; most notably on the Capitol Records singles “Good Vibrations”, “Wild Honey”, in the album track “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”, and in Dennis Wilson’s song “Tune L” found in the 1967 archival release “1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow”.