Died On This Date (February 5, 2013) Paul Tanner / Glenn Miller Orchestra; Played On “Good Vibrations”

Paul Tanner
October 15, 1917 – February 5, 2013

paul-tannerUntil 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



Died On This Date (February 14, 2012) Dory Previn / Renowned Songwriter

Dory Previn
October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012

Dory Previn was an American singer-songwriter and lyricist who counted several Academy Award nominations to her credit.  Beginning in the late ’50s, Previn, along with her then-husband and songwriting partner, Andre Previn, wrote numerous songs for such films as Pepe, Two for the Seesaw, and Valley of the Dolls.  Their songs have been recorded by such music luminaries as Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Dionne Warwick, and Sammy Davis, Jr., to name just a handful.  After parting ways with her husband in 1969, Previn launched a successful career as a singer-songwriter.  Over the next decade, she released a half-dozen albums, including 1972’s Reflections in a Mud Puddle, which Newsweek magazine named one of the best albums of the year, while the New York Times lauded it as one of the best singer-songwriters of 1972.   She went on to win two Emmys for music she created for television, and wrote two autobiographies as well as a one-woman play.  Dory Previn passed away on February 14, 2012.  She was 86.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.

 

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

Dory Previn