Temptations – Papa Was a Rolling Stone
“It was the 3rd of September, that day I’ll always remember, yes I will. ‘Cause that was the day that my daddy died.” These are the first lines from the 1972 Temptations hit, Papa was a Rolling Stone.
On the album, All Directions, producer Norman Whitfield, who along with Barrett Strong composed the song, created a nearly 12 minute version. The song was begins with long instrumental introduction done by the Motown session group the Funk Brothers. Between each of the three verses there was also extended instrumental passages.
The song reached Number 1 in December of 1972 and was the last big hit that the group had.
The Temptations were not the first artists to record the song. The Undisputed Truth recorded the song and released it in early 1972. Their version top out at Number 63. The Undisputed Truth biggest record Smiling Faces Sometimes had been recorded originally by the Temptations.
Like many the first time I heard the song was the single release by the Temptations, I don’t know if I have ever heard the version done by the Undisputed Truth. ‘Papa’ was a song with a real funky groove and one I enjoyed a lot. But once I heard the album version I really couldn’t enjoy the song any other way.
It really isn’t what one would call a Temptations song, very much different from the hits of the 60′s (My Girl, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, The Way You Do the Things You Do), and not at all like their 1971 classic Just My Imagination, but one that helped define the music as produced for Motown by Norman Whitfield.
Along with the All Directions
