The song became a hit for both record companies after a Charlotte, North Carolina, disk jockey played it at random in 1947.

After a failed attempt at running a restaurant in his native Nashville in the early 1950s, he toured with the Elmo Tanner Quartet until 1958, when he found work as a disc jockey in Florida.

After working as an auto dealer in the 1960s, in the early 1970s he resumed musical activity, singing with a St. Petersburg, Florida-based quartet.

[1] As a young boy, Tanner studied the violin and was successful with it until eye trouble made it difficult for him to read notes.

[11][12] The Paramount discs appeared in the Race record series,[12] and the Vocalion sides were likewise marketed to African Americans.

[13][a] His versatility was noted by Vocalion, who utilized him to provide vocals for jazz outfits such as Jimmie Noone[15] and for more sedate recordings with the Victor Young orchestra and with organist Eddie House.

[16] In 1928, he formed a duet with Fred Rose as "The Tune Peddlers" and appeared on radio stations WLS, KYW, and WBBM.

[32] Ted Weems considered Tanner's whistling so important to his band, he insured the musician's throat with Lloyd's of London for $10,000 in 1939.

[31] In an era when whistling was commonly featured on popular recordings, Tanner was often confused with Fred Lowery, who was blind and worked with Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights.

The primary purpose was evidently to show Tanner was "doing something" while keeping him in view, as it became a standard joke that the guitar he was playing had rubber bands in place of strings.

[38] Tanner also featured with Ted Weems and his Orchestra in a 1942 musical film short, Swing Frolic.

[39] During this time period Tanner appeared on the popular radio show Beat the Band with Weems; the program ran from January 28, 1940, until February 23, 1941.

[27] He headlined in various nightclubs and theaters such as Chicago's Oriental and Colosimo's and at the Orpheum in Los Angeles alongside the King Sisters and Maurice Rocco.

“Heartaches”, composed by Al Hoffman and John Klenner in 1931, was recorded as an unusual half-rumba, half washboard rhythm.

Immediately after the record was broadcast, the radio station's telephones began ringing with people asking about the song and requesting to hear it again.

By afternoon, the city's music stores were calling the radio station, asking where they could order copies of "Heartaches".

Both RCA Victor and Decca reissued their respective recordings of "Heartaches" by Weems and Tanner for sale in the southern United States.

[23][48][49] This older recording went to the top of all the main charts in 1947, including sales, juke box play, and airplay.

[16] Tanner said in a 1960 interview that neither he nor Ted Weems received any compensation for either of the "Heartaches" reissues as they both had let the contracts on the song expire while they were in the Merchant Marine.

[1] Because of the renewed success of “Heartaches”, Tanner joined the re-formed Weems outfit in March 1947, and both were signed to Mercury Records.

[28] He formed the Elmo Tanner Quartet and resumed touring for the next few years, until, tired of travel, he broke up his group in Seattle in 1958.

[61] In 1959, Tanner began working as a disk jockey on radio station WILZ in St. Pete Beach, Florida, a position which lasted several years.

[74] He was posthumously inducted into the Whistlers' Hall of Fame in 1991, joining previous inductees Bing Crosby and Fred Lowery.