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The original version of the now classic "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" in all its extended, funky, TEMPTING glory!

In 1972 the Temptation released their second studio album of the year and was the first time since 1969 that they did that with the releases of Cloud Nine and Puzzle People respectively. The first single off the album "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" was the big hit and won the group two Grammys the follwing year. This was one of those extended jams Whifield was known for but not people other than the Tempts complained, even the radio version was abou 7 minutes long. But my absolute favorite song on this album has got to be "Mother Nature" which is wonderfully sung by lead singer Dennis Edwards. Otis Williams also gets a rare lead with "I Ain't Got Nothing" and Damon Harris and Richard Street does remarkable jobs with covers of "Love Woke Me Up This Morning","First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and "Do Your Thing". Worth it for "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and "Mother Nature" alone, but again very hard to find and out of print. Another classic album by the Temptations, although you could see that things were about to change.

This album/CD finds the Temptations in rare form. Every song on this CD is sung with passion and those great harmonies we've come to expect from this great group. Dennis, Damon, and Richard do most of the leads, but even Otis gets in on the act with " I ain't got nothing " , which he does quite well, I might add. The remake of Isaac Hayes' " Do your thing " is a classic. I especially like the social messages on songs such as " Run Charlie Run " and Mother Nature " . Dennis sings his heart out on " Mother Nature " . This song is very passionate and bluesy, with a serious social message. Do I really need to say anything about " Papa Was A Rolling Stone " ? The grammy they won for this song speaks for itself. This is a great CD. Five stars.

The Temps are one of those era-spanning groups--they came in on the tail end of the doo-wop era, and when Motown started going in the direction of the group-with-strong-lead sound (i.e. "My Girl"), they were ready. But they really started cooking when Norman Whitfield started them moving in an Isaac Hayes-influenced sound that was later to morph into the New Jack style, at the time of this album called "psychedelic R & B", with its bass throb and wah-wah rhythm guitar. No doubt about it, if not for this Temptations sound, there would be no Parliament-Funkadelic or Average White Band. Maybe not even my jazz-funk idol Marcus Miller, who helped make Miles Davis' final years vibrant.
At the moment, as I listen to a Yankee game on XM, they're running an ad for this revue of "virtual hits" by copy artists (which I think is playing at the Foxwoods resort) and one song excerpted in the ad is the Temps' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone". When I first heard that ad, I dug out the 12-minutes-plus version of the song from my copy of this album, synched it to my MP3 player and used it as treadmill music at the gym the next day. It's one of the few mainstream pop songs that sticks to the main theme and rhythm in the extended version but still isn't boring in the fashion we've come to expect and detest in "dance mixes". One caveat about the treadmill application as I did, though. Beware grooving to the rhythm guitar part under your breath. Like so...

"Papa was a rolling stone (wackadoo wack-o wackadoo)
Wherever he laid his head was his home (a-wackadoo)
And when he died (a-wackadoo)
All he left us was alone (wackadoo wack-o wackadoo
wack-o wackadoo wack-o wackadoo)"

...or other patrons in the gym will think it's you who's the wackadoo-wackadoo-wackadoo-wackadoo.