"It was the 3rd of September..."

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone



One of my favorite songs growing up was Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, which was a big Motown hit for The Temptations in 1972. The soulful vocals combined with a funky bass, wah-wah guitar, echoing horns and soaring strings constituted the epitome of what used to be called socially conscious "ghetto music" at the time.

Dope that I am, I just noticed when I looked up the lyrics for this post that the tail-end of mama's forlorn refrain was "... and when he died, all he left us was alone." I always thought it was "... and when he died, all he left us was a loan." I was figuring that papa had left them with some debt to pay off, if nothing else.

It was the third of September.
That day I'll always remember, yes I will.
'Cause that was the day that my daddy died.
I never got a chance to see him.
Never heard nothing but bad things about him.
Mama, I'm depending on you to tell me the truth.

And Mama just hung her head and said,
"Son, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone."
"Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone."

Well, well

Hey Mama, is it true what they say,
that Papa never worked a day in his life?
And Mama, some bad talk going around town
saying that Papa had three outside children and another wife.
And that ain't right.
Hey, talk about Papa doing some store front preaching.
Talked about saving souls and all the time leeching.
Dealing in debt and stealing in the name of the Lord.

Mama just hung her head and said,
"Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone."
"Hey, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone."

Ugh

Hey Mama, I heard Papa called himself a jack of all trades.
Tell me is that what sent Papa to an early grave?
Folks say Papa would beg, borrow, steal to pay his bills.
Hey Mama, folks say that Papa was never much on thinking.
Spent most of his life chasing women and drinking.
Mama, I'm depending on you to tell me the truth.

And Mama looked up with a tear in her eye and said,
"Son, Papa was a rolling stone. (Well, well, well, well)
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone, lone, lone, lone, alone."
"Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone."

"I said, Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone."

The song was written and produced by Motown's award-winning duo of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Among their other smash-hits were cuts such as Just My Imagination, Ball of Confusion, and I Heard It Through the Grapevine.

An interesting anecdote from wiki:

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).

I just heard recently that one of Motown's best arrangers, David Van De Pitte (Keep On Truckin', What's Going On), passed away in August at the age of 67. Listen to Motown Arranger's Work Lives On.

And Norman Whitfield passed away in September of 2008, also at the age of 67. Listen to Hit-making Songwriter Dead at 67.

You can hear more about Motown's songwriters, arrangers, and producers on Motown: Not the Same Old Songs.

Finally, hear about Motown's rivals Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff at the Philadelphia International label (Love Train, Me and Mrs. Jones, For the Love of Money, Backstabbers, If You Don't Know Me By Now) on Riding Philly's "Love Train" with Gamble and Huff.