In the 1974 song written by Dave Loggins, entitled "Please Come to Boston",
who is he referring to as "the man from Tennessee"?

Hello and thank you for your question.

I searched Google Groups and found the same answer that Pinkfreud-ga
offers in her comments.
"As you can see, the song has nothing to do with Elvis; the "man from Tennessee"
is the singer/songwriter himself."
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22please+come+to+boston%22+%22man+from+tennessee%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&c2coff=1&safe=off&selm=951218.162630.EST.BGRISSOM%40ukcc.uky.edu&rnum=10

Thanks for letting us help
Google Answers Researcher
Richard-ga

Since the line about the man from Tennessee comes from the woman in
the song who wants the singer to come home to her, I always assumed
that, by "the man from Tennessee," the song is referring to the singer
of the song, the same person referred to as "ramblin' boy."

"And she said, "Hey, ramblin' boy,
 Why don't you settle down?
 Boston ain't your kind of town.
 There ain't no gold and
 There ain't nobody like me.
 I'm the number one fan
 Of the man from Tennessee."

...In other words, "I'm your number one fan."

There may be other theories. This one just makes sense to me.

I always thought they were talking about Elvis.

The problem with the Elvis theory is that Elvis was originally from
Mississippi, and did not move to Tennessee until 1957 (see
http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo28/elvis_presley.htm).  Since
this song was written well after that, it is possible that it is an
Elvis reference, but I have always followed pinkfreud's
interpretation--that she is referring to the singer himself.

i agree to an extent with pinkfreud.  i believe that the woman in the
song is speaking to the singer himself when she says, "i'm the number
one fan of the man from Tennessee."  if you take the rest of the song
into context, she refuses him in each of the cities he travels to. 
you get the impression that all the different things he is
experiencing he hopes to use to lure her there.. but she isn't
interested in that.  she likes him the way she knew him:  simple, home
grown, and his life when they first met.  she wants "the man from
Tennessee."

I agree with pinkfreud, but for different reasons. I get the
impression that "the man from Tennessee" is the singer who is away
from home trying to make it as a traveling musician, probably in
Nashville, where many aspiring singers often go for long periods of
time hoping to be "discovered".

The version of Dave Loggins tune recorded by David Allen Coe has
modified lyrics which confirm that it is the singer himself who is the
man from Tennessee - pay particular attention to the last line where
Coe refers to himself:

"PLEASE COME TO BOSTON FOR THE SPRINGTIME
I'M STAYING HERE WITH SOME FRIENDS
AND THEY'VE GOT LOTS OF ROOM
YOU CAN SELL YOU PAINTINGS ON THE SIDEWALK
BY A CAFÉ WHERE I HOPE TO BE WORKING SOON
PLEASE COME TO BOSTON/
SHE SAID "NO, DAVID, YOU COME HOME TO ME"

OCAIR - KNOWLEDGE DATABASE
http://www.ocair.org/files/knowledgebase/IRRUS/workjobjoy.asp

At any rate, I too am conviced that the singer's character is clearly
"the man from Tennessee"

regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Dave Loggins, who wrote the song, is a man from Tennessee:

"Birth Name: David Allen Loggins...
 Date of Birth: 11/10/1947
 Place of Birth: Mountain City, TN"

http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/loggins.html

I agree with the response.  Just correcting comment
>>The problem with the Elvis theory is that Elvis was originally from
>>Mississippi, and did not move to Tennessee until 1957

Elvis moved to Memphis with his parents in 1948
(http://www.elvis.com/elvisology/bio/elvis_overview.asp)