jetblack wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:00 pm
drjohncarpenter wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:04 am
Of course, had "jetblack" actually invested in this topic, he would have seen this evidence cited several times during the discussion.
It's not conjecture, it's Elvis' own words, captured on tape, said with tongue firmly not in cheek. And he said it at multiple shows in 1970, right before doing the song.
As I said, there are some very petty and jealous forum members out there. They've been a part of this topic almost from day one.
Bummer.
We all know Elvis said MANY things during the years that are simply not true or misremembered.
If one wants to believe the 'Tiger Man' myth so be it. I don't. The reason, there is not one iota of documented evidence or discussion by anyone there at the time. Just a 'forum member' that states in a topic 'mystery solved' when it is anything but.
Andy
The sad thing is, I don't think anyone here flatly discounts the possibility that Elvis tried Tiger Man out at Sun, and may have had it put to tape. There may well have been other songs that they ran through and put to tape but were later erased, recorded over, or got lost.
The problem the OP runs into is the assumption that acetates must have been pressed and then distributed to DJ's for their review. In all the years since the Sun sessions there is absolutely no shred of evidence that this happened. No recording logs, no receipts, no correspondence, no paperwork, no tapes, and no acetates. If we are to truly believe the acetate story then you have to believe that multiple acetates were pressed and sent out yet not even one has survived. In all the years since and the massive research that has been done, miles traveled, ads placed, inquires made, libraries gone through... nothing. No set lists from the surviving newspaper reviews mention the song being song then (even allusions to the lyrics), no fan diaries or remembrances mention it, and Scotty Moore himself said it never happened. Certainly if Sam had taken the time to cut acetates (and that would mean that even a somewhat acceptable take was recorded, surely Scotty would have remembered THAT) and sent them out, then you would think that Elvis would have sung the song in concert. After all, he was known to sing songs, even back then, that he apparently never recorded so if an acceptable take was made and acetates pressed, wouldn't he have wanted to promote it? Otherwise wasn't he wasting his time?
I'm sorry but a somewhat off the cuff reference to something that may or may not have happened 15 or 16 years before is a long from way from proof. People who want to believe the story take it at face value yet insist that Scotty Moore forgot, misremembered, or was flat out wrong. You can't have it both ways. Either a take was deemed acceptable for release and acetates pressed or they weren't. And there is zero credible evidence to support the assertion that this is what happened.
If Tiger Man was a failure and not too many people heard it, then why not repeat the process with Good Rockin' Tonight just in case the response was lukewarm as the OP would have you believe was true of Tiger Man. Which is odd because everyone generally agrees that even later in Elvis' career Tiger Man was a show stopper. Why not rush release it back in 1954 or 1955? Certainly back then it would have been even more raw and more in the vein of That's All Right Mama.
I'm sorry but the "must have pressed acetates" story falls flat. Tiger Man very well may have been run through and put on tape but that is a long way from proving the rest of the story. Despite Elvis' comments to the contrary.