"Papa Was a Rolling Stone" (also spelled "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone") is a For other uses, see Soul music (disambiguation). Soul music is fundamentally rhythm and blues, which grew out of the African-American gospel and blues traditions during the late 1950s and early 1960s in the United States. Over time, much of the broad range of R&B extensions in African... soul song, written by Motown, also known as Tamla-Motown outside the U.S., is a record label founded on December 14, 1959 by Berry Gordy, Jr. in Detroit, Michigan (Motor Town), and named for the citys association with the automobile industry. In the 1960s it was the most successful proponent of what... Motown A songwriter is someone who writes either the lyrics or the music for songs. The same person may write both. Writing the music is also called composition. Sometimes the word composer is used interchangeably with the word songwriter though, strictly speaking, they are not quite the same thing. The word... songwriters Norman Whitfield (born in 1943) was a songwriter and producer for Berry Gordys Motown label during the 1960s. He is credited as being one of the creators of the Motown Sound, as well as one of the major instrumental figues in the late-60s sub-genre of psychedelic soul... Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong (born February 5, 1941 in West Point, Mississippi) is an African-American singer and songwriter. Strong was among the first artists signed to Berry Gordys Motown label, and is the performer on the labels first hit, Money (Thats What I Want) (#2 US R&... Barrett Strong as an album track for Motown act The Undisputed Truth in 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). Events January January 1 - British divorce Reform Act comes into force January 2 - 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster. January 2 - A ban on television cigarette advertisements... 1971. A year later, Whitfield, who also produced the song, took "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and remade it as a twelve-minute record for The Classic 5 lineup of the Temptations, circa 1965. Left to right: Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, and David Ruffin. The Temptations (also abbreviated as The Tempts) are an American Motown singing group whose repertoire has included, at various periods during its long existence, doo-wop, soul... The Temptations, which won three Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... Grammy Awards in 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. Events January January 1 - United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, now known as the European Union. January 3 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George... 1973. While the original version of the song has been largely forgotten, The Temptations' version of the song has been an enduring and influential soul classic.

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 Fender Precision Bass Bass Guitar is a commonly spoken phrase used to refer to the electric bass and horizontal acoustic basses, a stringed instrument similar in design to the electric guitar, but larger in size, commonly fretted and sometimes fretless and with a lower range. It is evolved from —... bass guitar part, backed by The hi-hat stand has changed little since its invention. A Hi-hat or hihat is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in jazz, rock and roll, and other forms of contemporary popular music. Paistes 2002 Sound Edge... hi-hat, establishes the musical theme, a simple three-note figure; the bass is gradually joined by other instruments, including a Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. Blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression in ragtime, jazz, big bands, rhythm and... blues The classical guitar typically has nylon strings. The acoustic guitar features steel strings and more guide dots on the fretboard. A guitar is a stringed musical instrument played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick). The sound is produced by vibrating strings. Guitars have a body (hollow in acoustic... guitar, wah-wah guitar, A Rhodes piano is a musical instrument. Its distinctive sound has appeared particularly in jazz and rock songs of the last fifty years. The Rhodes piano was invented in the 1940s by Harold Rhodes, and its principles are derived from both the celesta and the electric guitar. The action is... Rhodes piano notes, handclaps, Horn may refer to: horn (anatomy), a hollow, pointed projection of the skin of various animals Horn, Austria horn (diacritic), a diacritic mark used to indicate that a normally rounded vowel such as o or u is to be pronounced unrounded horn (instrument) horn, a slang term for any wind... horns, and Strings (as a sound (voice) in electronic musical instruments and synthesizers) is an imitation of classical string ensembles sound. Usually is used as a pad. Strings can also refer to the section of an orchestra or band consisting in stringed instruments. Strings can refer to a sequence of characters... strings; all are tied together by the ever-present bass guitar line and repeating hi-hat rhythm.

Vocal duties are performed in a true ensemble style: Temptations singers Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin was the bass voice for The Temptations until his death in 1995. Categories: Substubs ... Melvin Franklin, Richard Street, Damon Harris, and Otis Williams 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 rolling stone/whereever he laid his hat was his home/and when he died, all he left us was alone") painting a somber picture for the children who have never seen their father and have "heard nothing but bad things about him."

Friction arose during the recording of "Papa Was a Rolling 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 September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years). There are 119 days remaining. Events 301 - San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the worlds oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus. 590 - St. Gregory I becomes Pope... the 3rd of September/That day I'll always remember/'cause that was the day/that my daddy died". Edwards' real-life father had died on the same day as the fictional father in the song, and although the song wasn't originally written for the Tempts, 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 ususally fiery-toned Edwards.

The Temptations' version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" set a precedent for extra-length "cinematic soul" song mixes, and future songs like Donna Summer on the cover of her 1993 collection The Donna Summer Anthology Donna Summer (born December 31, 1948) is an American pop music singer best known for a string of disco music hits in the 1970s which earned her the title Queen of Disco. Summer was a rarity in... Donna Summer's fourteen-minute "Love to Love You Baby" and the instrumentals of MFSB (short for Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) were a loose conglomeration of studio musicians who provided backing tracks for dozens of seminal Philadelphia soul recordings in the 1970s, and later released successful songs and albums as a standalone recording act. Assembled by the production team of Gamble & Huff, MFSB... MFSB expanded upon the concept in the mid-1970s.

A 7-minuted edited version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" was released as a single in September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. September begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Virgo and ends in the sign of Libra. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation... September 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. Events January January 2 - the Pierre Hotel Heist - Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of the Pierre Hotel in New York City. Loot is at least $4 million January 5 - President of the United States Richard Nixon orders the... 1972; its In recorded music, the terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles have been released since the 1950s. By extension from their usage to refer to the two physical sides of the disc, they have come to refer to... b-side was Whitfield's instrumental without the Temptations' vocals. "Papa" rose to #1 on the US pop charts and #5 on the US R&B charts, becoming the Temptations' final pop #1 hit. The song, the anchor of the 1972 Temptations album All Directions, won three 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. Events January January 1 - United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, now known as the European Union. January 3 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George... 1973 Grammies: its a-side won for The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal has been awarded since 1970. From 1967 to 1969 and in 1971 the award included instrumental performances. The award had several minor name changes: From 1967 to 1968 the award was known as Best... Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group, and its b-side won for The Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1970 to 1990 and in 1993. The award had several minor name changes: From 1970 to 1985 the award was known as Best R&B Instrumental Performance From 1986 to 1989 it was awarded as Best... Best R&B Instrumental (awarded to Whitfield and arranger/conductor Paul Riser), and Whitfield and Barret Strong won for The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriters Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards... Best R&B Song as the song's composers.

Credits

• Lead and Background Vocals by Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin was the bass voice for The Temptations until his death in 1995. Categories: Substubs ... Melvin Franklin, Richard Street, Damon Harris, and Otis Williams

• Written by Norman Whitfield (born in 1943) was a songwriter and producer for Berry Gordys Motown label during the 1960s. He is credited as being one of the creators of the Motown Sound, as well as one of the major instrumental figues in the late-60s sub-genre of psychedelic soul... Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong (born February 5, 1941 in West Point, Mississippi) is an African-American singer and songwriter. Strong was among the first artists signed to Berry Gordys Motown label, and is the performer on the labels first hit, Money (Thats What I Want) (#2 US R&... Barrett Strong
• Produced by Norman Whitfield
• Arranged and Conducted by Paul Riser
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers were the house band at Detroits Motown Records from 1959 to 1972, when the company moved to Los Angeles. Their story was told in Paul Justmans 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown. Early members included bandleader Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke... The Funk Brothers