Interview with Paul Tanner

[Andrew G. Doe]

Found this while looking for something else entirely (isn't this web thing wonderful ?): Dr. Tanner is evidently a man of few words !

D.M.: In the mid 1960s, you, or should I say, your wife, got a call from Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys). What did he want?

P.T.: He wanted a theremin on "Good Vibrations".

D.M.: And you took him up on the offer, right?

P.T.: Yeah, sure.

D.M.: And what were the sessions like with the Beach Boys?

P.T.: They were usually very late at night, and very long, and very good pay.

D.M.: Very good pay? OK.

P.T.: Oh yeah, because when you go past midnight it doubles, after you go past three hours, it doubles again.

D.M.: Oh, so they would start recording at midnight?

P.T.: Well, there was a session I was doing that I got through at 11 PM, and he (Wilson) said he'd start his at 11:30. At night!

D.M.: And that was the first session, wasn't it?

P.T.: Yes, that's right.

[Actually, Tanner's first Beach Boys session was for the tune, "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times". This session occurred on Feb. 14, 1966. The first "Good Vibrations" session occurred three days later, Feb. 17, 1966]

D.M.: Do you recall doing any other tunes for them besides "Good Vibrations"? Because I believe they used a theremin on one other tune.

P.T.: I can't think of it. But one of the other cousins got a group together in a pretty high-priced studio, and we'd stand around for a couple of hours while he waited for something to occur to him, and nothing did, and so we were eventually dismissed, and had to be paid.

D.M.: And your opinion of the tune after it was finished?

P.T.: "Good Vibrations"? I thought it was an excellent record. Showed real versatility.

[Tanner recorded three tunes with the Beach Boys: "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", "Good Vibrations", and "Wild Honey"]

D.M.: Did Brian Wilson ever try your instrument?

P.T.: No.

D.M.: The Beach Boys wanted you to go on the road with them too. What were your feelings about that?

P.T.: Well, I was teaching at UCLA, I was on the staff at ABC, and I was doing a lot of free lance. There wasn't any way I could do that. But he told me what I would come back with, and it sounded awfully good.

[The Shift]

Tanner: "... one of the other cousins got a group together in a pretty high-priced studio, and we'd stand around for a couple of hours while he waited for something to occur to him, and nothing did, and so we were eventually dismissed, and had to be paid."

Well well well... (I'm guessing he  meant "brother" not cousin?)

[Wirestone]

Why would one guess that? Mike's certainly a cousin.

[?]

Interesting interview.  I'm surprised he didn't bother clarifying that his instrument wasn't a theremin at all.  I wish someone would come along and mass produce those things.  There's only a handful of Tannerin clones out there that I'm aware of.  It would be a lot of fun to play around with one.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Interesting interview.  I'm surprised he didn't bother clarifying that his instrument wasn't a theremin at all. 

Sorry, that's down to me - in the context of the whole interview, Paul makes it plain what he built was not a theremin.

[?]

Sorry, that's down to me - in the context of the whole interview, Paul makes it plain what he built was not a theremin.

No problem, Andrew.  Thanks for posting it here! 

[c-man]

Tanner: "... one of the other cousins got a group together in a pretty high-priced studio, and we'd stand around for a couple of hours while he waited for something to occur to him, and nothing did, and so we were eventually dismissed, and had to be paid."

Well well well... (I'm guessing he  meant "brother" not cousin?)

Well, Dr. Tanner played on Dennis' session for "Tune # L" (sic) at Western on November 28, 1967 (8:00pm-1:00am).  No master number was assigned, indicating perhaps none was produced.  Maybe that's what he's referring to!