Err, sure, but that isn't actually what is being passed via %p. %p will be something like 'pg_xlog/RECOVERY_WAL', as I said, which *won't* work for your tar command, eg:
sfrost@tamriel:/home/sfrost> tar -xzf zz.tar.gz -C zz/zz tar: zz/zz: Cannot open: No such file or directory tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now sfrost@tamriel:/home/sfrost> echo $?