A former trombonist for the Glenn Miller Ochestra, Tanner helped invent the unusual device. From his obit in the Times (my emphasis):
How Mr. Tanner ended up playing with the Beach Boys is uncertain, but
one version of the story is that Brian Wilson, the group’s leader and
chief songwriter, called ABC looking for a theremin player and was
directed to Mr. Tanner. On “Good Vibrations,” the instrument created a
delirious, rising-in-pitch backdrop to the song’s chorus. The song
reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Strange group to work with,” Mr. Tanner said in a 2001 interview. “The only one who seemed to have any idea of music at all was Brian Wilson.”
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“Nowadays they’re so intelligent and ask so many questions, you’re kept
on your mettle,” Mr. Tanner said about his students in a 1976 interview
with the jazz writer Leonard Feather. “The question I remember best was
asked in class one day. One kid said, ‘Professor Tanner, did they have
groupies in the swing era?’ I said, ‘Yes, your mama.’ ”
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