(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
The Temptations - "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"
Hit Number 1: December 2, 1972
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
Things were starting to get rough in the Temptations. They were starting to feud with their head producer, Norman Whitfield, because they felt as if he was putting more emphasis on the instrumentation rather than their own voices. When you're a band like the Temptations, that kind of stuff doesn't fly. But Whitfield came up with some sort of a solution. He had written a song called "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" for the Undisputed Truth, a fellow Motown act, but their version flopped, failing to chart anywhere. (What didn't flop though is the Undisputed Truth's highest-charting single, "Smiling Faces Sometimes", which made it to #3. It's a 10) He figured he'd give the song to the Temptations. Whitfield just couldn't get it together though. Despite "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" becoming a #1 hit for the Temptations, Whitfield was eventually dismissed from the group for his mistreatment of them.
Reportedly, Whitfield made lead singer Dennis Edwards repeat his lines dozens of times until he finally got what he wanted from him. The Temptations knew Whitfield was only putting them on the back burner, so they thought it would be best to sever ties with him. It didn't prove to be that great of a move, though, because the Temptations never did anything else notable afterwards, and they also had to deal with member Paul Williams' drug addiction, and eventual death in 1973. Original member Eddie Kendricks was also irritated with the band, and wanted to embark on a solo career. (It proved to be successful too. He'll appear in this blog with a #1 hit from his solo career) That leaves "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" as a "grand finale" for the band, and the song is rather fitting.
The song is pretty sad on the surface. It's about a family, the song centered around the children, who ask their mother what their father was like. They never got to meet their father. He was always on the move, and the only things they ever hear about him are bad things. The song is made up of a conversation between the children and their mother, and their mother describes their father as a "rolling stone." And when he died all he ever left them was "alone." The song is drowning in mystery: the strings twinkle, the horns are quiet yet still prominent, the ever-longing questions the children ask about their father. The Temptations members all take turns singing the song, and we still get to hear that great contrast between Kendricks' falsetto voice and bass singer Melvin Franklin's low tones.
All in all, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", while it's not an amazing Temptations song, it's still pretty cool. The original song was over 12 minutes long, but that's obviously too long for radio so it had to be shortened. Even then it's still a long song, clocking in at just under 7 minutes. There does come a point that I'm over the song, and the instrumental intro is way too long. Still, there's some good quality here. I always respect good craftsmanship, and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" definitely has that. It's not a bad way for the Temptations to achieve their final #1 hit.
GRADE: 7/10
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