"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a soul song, written by Motown
songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong as a single for
Motown act The Undisputed Truth in 1971. This version of "Papa"
was released as a single in early 1972, and peaked at number
sixty-three on the pop charts and number twenty-four on the
R&B charts.
Later in 1972, Whitfield, who also produced the song, took
"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and remade it as a twelve-minute
record for The Temptations, which was a number-one hit on the
Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1973. While
the original Undisputed Truth version of the song has been
largely forgotten, The Temptations' version of the song has
been an enduring and influential soul classic. It was ranked
#168 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All
Time, one of the group's three songs on the list. In
retrospect, The Temptations' Otis Williams considers "Papa" to
be the last real classic the group recorded.
Beginning with an extended instrumental introduction, each
of the song's three verses is separated by extended musical
passages, in which Whitfield brings various instrumental
textures in and out of the mix. A solo plucked bass guitar
part, backed by hi-hat cymbals drumming, establishes the
musical theme, a simple three-note figure; the bass is
gradually joined by other instruments, including a blues
guitar, wah-wah guitar, Wurlitzer Electric Piano notes,
handclaps, horns, and strings; all are tied together by the
ever-present bass guitar line and repeating hi-hat rhythm. A
very unusual thing about this song is that it uses only one
chord throughout the entire song -- B-flat minor.
Vocal duties are performed in a true ensemble style:
Temptations singers Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Richard
Street, Otis Williams and Damon Harris alternate vocal lines,
taking the role of siblings questioning their mother about
their now-deceased father; their increasingly-pointed
questions, and the mother's repeated response ("Papa was a
rollin' stone/wherever he laid his hat was his home/and when he
died, all he left us was alone") paint a somber picture for the
children who have never seen their father and have "never heard
nothing but bad things about him."
Friction arose during the recording of "Papa Was a Rollin'
Stone" for a number of reasons. The Temptations didn't like the
fact that Whitfield's instrumentation had been getting more
emphasis than their vocals on their songs at the time, and that
they had to press Whitfield to get him to produce ballads for
the group. In addition, Dennis Edwards was angered by the
song's first verse: "It was the 3rd of September/That day I'll
always remember/'cause that was the day/that my daddy died".
Edwards' father had died on that date, and although the song
wasn't originally written for the Temptations, Edwards was
convinced that Whitfield assigning him the line was
intentional. Although Whitfield denied the accusation, he used
it to his advantage: he made Edwards record the disputed line
over and over again until Whitfield finally got the angered,
bitter grumble he desired out of the usually fiery-toned
Edwards (it was, however, one of the reasons Whitfield was
eventually fired as the group's producer).
The Temptations' version of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" set a
precedent for extra-length "cinematic soul" song mixes, and
future songs like Donna Summer's fourteen-minute "Love to Love
You Baby" and the instrumentals of MFSB expanded upon the
concept in the mid-1970s.
A seven-minute edited version of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"
was released as a single in September 1972. For this mono mix,
congas were added to bolster the song's sparse percussion; this
version appeared on the 1973
Anthologytriple LP. The Temptations' box set
Emperors of Soulhas the edited version in stereo, but
without the congas. The b-side was the instrumental backing by
The Funk Brothers without the Temptations' vocals (except for a
single "Unngh!" at the end of the second verse). "Papa" rose to
number one on the U.S. pop charts and number five on the U.S.
R&B charts, becoming the Temptations' final pop number-one
hit. The song, the anchor of the 1972 Temptations album
All Directions, won three 1973 Grammys: its a-side won
for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group; its b-side won
for Best R&B Instrumental (awarded to Whitfield and
arranger/conductor Paul Riser); and Whitfield and Barret Strong
won for Best R&B Song as the song's composers.
A number of notable covers of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"
have been recorded. A 1993 version by George Michael was
released on the EP
Five Live. The group Was (Not Was) covered the song on
their album
Are You Okay?(1990), and their version reached number
twelve in the UK. Bill "Wolf" Wolfer created an electronic
cover of the number for his 1982 debut album,
Wolf; Michael Jackson provided backing vocals.
David Lindley and his band El Rayo-X covered the song on
their 1988 album
Very Greasy.
The song was covered by David Hernandez on American Idol
(season 7) during the Top 10 males week and by Allison Iraheta
on American Idol (season 8) during Motown week.
Rockapella performed the song on their concert album
Live in Japan(2004); it is a staple at their live shows.
George Baldi III, the current bass for Rockapella, sings
lead.
The Pioneers made a rocksteady cover of this song on a
single produced by Joe Gibbs.
Lee Ritenour recorded a version on the album
Overtimein 2005.
Craig David Recorded a Version on His 2010 Cover Album
"Signed Sealed Delivered"