"Papa was a Rolling Stone" is the best soul era song

[SEAburb]

of all time. Great lyrics, great vocals, great musical arrangement. Can anybody honestly not agree with me.

[Fenris]

1. Papa was a rollin' stone

Wherever he laid his hat was his home
And when he died
All he left us was alone

[MinnFats]

2. disagree? absolutely, completely disagree.

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was a minor hit for the Temptations, when they were in decline.
It's an OK song but the Temptations themselves had about three dozen songs that were far better:
"My Girl"
"Get Ready"
"I know I'm Losing You"


The Four Tops also did better
"Bernadette:
:It's the Same Old Song"

So did Sam and Dave: "Hold On, I'm Comin'," "Soul Man"
Otis Redding: "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," or better yet,"Try a Little Tenderness," another candidate for top R&B song of all time
Wilson Pickett: "Mustang Sally," and "Land of 1,000 Dances," and probably a dozen others.

and almost any live recording by James Brown.

[SEAburb]

4. top 40 radio wouldn't play it, because it was longer than 3 minutes

Those are all great songs that you mentioned. I liked them all.

"Papa" is a song that continues to grow on me.

[NightTrain]

6. A minor hit?

<<"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was a minor hit for the Temptations, when they were in decline.>>

It spent a week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That hardly makes it "a minor hit."

[madrchsod]

3. the more i listen to the song

i`ve come to the conculsion that this song pretty much summed up the era. the music and lyrics sum up the era better than any song written and produced during that time. there`s others that are very ,very good but this song has it all.

[NightTrain]

5. It certainly was one of them!

:hi: