Paul Tanner
October 15, 1917 – February 5, 2013
Until his passing, Paul Tanner was the last surviving member of the original Glenn Miller Orchestra. Born into a musical family, Tanner was already touring the country by his late teens. During one of those gigs, Tanner was approached by Miller who asked him to join his band. He played trombone for Miller from 1938 to 1942. After Miller went off to play in the Army Air Force Band, Tanner went on to do session work in Los Angeles, and teach music for 23 years at UCLA. He also performed with the ABC Orchestra for 16 years, sharing the stage with Andre Previn and Leonard Bernstein to name just two. During the ’50s, Tanner developed an spacey-sounding instrument called an electro-theremin and by doing so, became a pioneer of electronic music as we know it today. With his electro-theremin, Tanner can be heard on music played during the My Favorite Martian television series as well as other programs and films. He also played the instrument on the Beach Boys‘ “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times,” “Wild Honey,” and most notably, “Good Vibrations.” Paul Tanner was 95 when he passed away on February 5, 2013.
Thanks to Harold Lepidus at Bob Dylan Examiner for the assist