Elmo Tanner
William Elmo Tanner, known as Elmo Tanner was an American whistler, singer, bandleader and disc jockey, best known for his whistling on the charttopping song Heartaches with the Ted Weems Orchestra. Tanner and Weems recorded the song for two different record companies within a period of five years. Neither recording was successful originally. The song became a hit for both record companies after a Charlotte, North Carolina disk jockey played it at random in 1947.
Tanner was born on August 8, 1904 in Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up in Detroit, and moved to Memphis with his family by 1926. As a young boy, Tanner studied the violin and was successful with it until eye trouble made it difficult for him to read notes. His musical training helped Tanner to develop the ability to scan music or lyrics quickly and then either sing or whistle what he had just read. On his walk home from work, Tanner passed a cemetery each night and started whistling as he passed by. Not everyone appreciated Tanners whistling in the evening he was once jailed in Albuquerque, New Mexico for whistling after 10pm. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Tanner raced automobiles and worked as a mechanic in Memphis. While performing the duties of his employment he liked to whistle and sing. One day in 1928, he had a repair job for a customer who happened to work at WMC radio. After hearing Tanner singing while working on his car, the announcer suggested Tanner audition for
Source: Wikipedia