It's somewhere buried in this monster thread, when I first appeared here, and no one knew who I was from a hole in the wall, and I didn't bother to cite very well, but I reminded folks of something. He DID "talk about "Tiger Man" on another occasion, when discussing his career. And in an emotionally charged context.
Because I didn't cite what I was saying, it sounded stupid (a little black box of CDs), and didn't name the writer of the liner notes, we (the Doc and this forum-newbie interloper) got into it a little bit, but then we PM'd, and everything was super-cool. But I learned that this forum was not a place just to throw stuff around without academic-style citation! (And that's a darn good thing for the Internet, I'd say, on reflection.)
Anyway, Harvey Kubernick wrote the liner notes to the "little black box of CDs" which were the "complete" audio CDs of
The Complete '68 Comeback Special
Here's the "little black box" that I so cherished, and just assumed everyone had ESP about:
'68 Comeback Comeplete Audio.jpg
And this fellow, Kubernick interviewed various people, including the "belly dancer" Tanya, and most significantly here, for our purposes, Chris Bearde.
They were just getting ideas about how to structure the show on June 5, 1968, and putting them together, in an office. The writers were there, Steve, etc. And Elvis, of course. A TV was on, just a few steps away, either in the room, or the next. Right there. And it was pretty late. The news was on, and the results of the California primary had come in, and RFK made his victory speech. We don't know which network, of course. Within around 20 minutes of the shooting that followed the speech, the anchors returned to the air, describing the scene, awaiting film of the scene. (ABC radio stayed live, but it was all audio, and one network had a mute feed of the ballroom, that would have been live, but they went off, and it was in the ballroom, not the kitchen.)
Anyway, within 20 minutes, whilst Elvis and the writers, etc., were talking about what the show should be, the news bulletin came on that yet another assasination had just taken place immediately after the speech. Lamar Fike remembers, in the MM book (don't have it here, but I'm doggone sure it's there - Heaven help me), Elvis going "turn on your TV!!" That is not in the liner notes, but it buttresses their account tremendously.
Well, Elvis calmed down about the news, which prattled on in the background for hours, and he took a guitar, and began to pick on it, and speak. (I was just a little sprout in Florida, on vacation in a hotel with my folks, sleeping on a cot, when I awoke to a medical doctor with a stick in his hand, pointing at a map of the human brain. I always turned on the TV the instant I awoke: still do. If I got up at about 6 AM, it was 3 AM in L.A. You can bet your bippie they were on in L.A.)
But Elvis wasn't apparently listening too much to the specifics; he seemed to have it figured out, according to Steve. Thought it was a conspiracy. Doesn't matter: it seemed to trigger something in him, and he "picked, not strummed" on the guitar, Bearde told Kubernick, for hours. I believe he said "five" hours . . . no one remembers perfectly, but let's say it was through the night 'till the morning. In L.A. And as he picked, not strummed, he spoke.
And he talked about being the target of assaults in his early career. He had just "seen" (well, the film took a while, but the descriptions were graphic) a far more violent assault than any he had experienced, but he felt like sharing his being a public figure, with people who wanted to punch him. That was a big theme.
And, Bearde said, he talked about music. Specifically, in this interview with Kubernick, Bearde said he talked about a song called "Tiger Man."
Bearde apparently did not reveal what Elvis said about this song. So we can only speculate. But he was feeling a little grumpy about his early career: how people were attacking him, and so forth. I have no idea how this could tie in, this sense of being under assault - with the song. But in the notes, no other song is mentioned in this marathon talkfest, by Elvis, as he picked the guitar. (This generally helped him talk, as it did a year later during a brief interview on the set of COH: "he seizes a guitar," and then he quite "staring at his hands.")
I think the idea of Elvis talking about his career planted a seed right there, for the sit-down shows, and the the dressing room jams totally sealed it.
The point is that he DID talk about "Tiger Man." Specifically. We just don't know what he said about it. But there seemed to be emotion attached to it. We can't know what that is.
Kubernick does not quote Bearde or anyone else mentioning any other song from his long talk that night other than "Tiger Man."
Hope all is cleared up about that aspect. This thread got me in here, like it or not!
(Now, now. Be nice. I might "fake my own . . ." Aw, I'll cut it out! Enough of that. {wink and smirk})
What I am saying is that there is evidence that he had an itch he needed to scratch about "Tiger Man" even before 1970. We don't know what it involves. Very soon, we may find out that we may never know. (Or, if the Lord Above is merciful upon us, we may be delighted! Wishful thinking, anyway.)
rjm
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