'Papa Was A Rolling Stone'

Who did it best? The Temptations or George Michael? I love both versions of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone." In fact, this is one of my favorite songs period! I was listening to the Temptations version last night and thought it might be fun to talk about here today. The long musical interlude for The Temptations version gets me every time! I pulled out my 70s miniseries soundtrack (NBC did these special mini series several years ago). I was jamming.

The Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone

Not to be outdone, George Michael's version is just amazing. Great throwback to the original and outstanding backing vocals. Plus I love "Killer" at the beginning of this one. In my top 5 George Michael tunes of all time. And since he's one of my favorites period, that's saying a lot.

Here's the actual original by The Undisputed Truth. Largely forgotten after the song was reworked for The Temptations.

Comments

[stu]

i’m more a fan of the lovemongers’ version.

[Bob]

My favorite version is the full 12+ minute version by The Temptations. Without getting too much into the history, it is important to understand the cross pollination between the Undisputed Truth and The Temptations. both were Motown artists, and both were largely guided by Norman whitfield at the time, who was a pioneering producer in the psychedelic soul movement of the early 70s. for example, "smiling Faces" which was the big hit for the Undisputed Truth was originally done by The Temptations. Now, if you really want to go on a musical journey; smoke some high-quality herb, and put on the Undisputed Truth's version of "Ball of Confusion." That section where they keep singing, "Let the music take your mind" is absolutely transcendent. if I may quote another song by The Temptations, "Take a stroll through your mind sometime. You'll be surprised what you might find."