Comments:
Rip Rense on the liner notes of The Lost Episodes (1996):
Upon hearing the track for the first time in 30 years, Vliet declared simply, "Jesus!"
Heitor Mendes Pannuti (a-ffz, May 23, 2008)
I was browsing some old comics and, with the help of my friend Kibe De Large, I came across "Green Lantern #34", January 1965.
As you can check in the link below, this comic could be the source of some of the "Tiger Roach" lyrics, specifically "Green Lantern! Funny lizard! Three-way!" (and eventually: "Looks like greeny! Maybe it's purple").
I don't know exactly when it was on sale, but according to the ads in this issue, it was on sale before December 3rd, 1964, probably about November 1964 (De month o' NOVEMBUH).
If I am correct, then this song was recorded in a different session that "Metal Man", which was recorded around Feb/March 1964.
In fact, "Green Lantern #34" is contemporary of "Hawkman #6" and "Metal Man #12", and, according to Biffy's electrifying page ( http://members.aol.com/biffyshrew/metal.html ), Captain Beefheart built the lyrics of "Metal Man Has Won His Wings" using "Hawkman #1" and "Metal Man #7".
So, my theory is that "Tiger Roach" was recorded in late 1964, probably in the same sessions of "Malt Shop", that also featured Don Van Vliet and Vic Mortenson, as "Tiger Roach" did.
Biffy The Elephant Shrew (May 23, 2008)
I happen to have this comic, and on seeing this message, I immediately dug it up. There's another "Tiger Roach" phrase on the back cover: "Buddy learns" turns out to be from an ad for Aurora slot cars, with the headline "Buddy Learns the Secret."