The Giant Panther

I was a huge fan of The Temptations as a kid. I STILL have a scratched up copy of the Ball of Confusion (That's What The World is Today) 45 RPM record on Gordy Records (a division of Motown) circa 1970. I don't know how many times I played the flip side, It's Summer, but I can tell you it wasn't many. The Tempations were and are legendary. Not so much for My Girl, Ain't Too Proud To Beg, Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) or The Way You Do The Things You Do, but for songs like (I Know) I'm Losing You, Can't Get Next To You, Psychedelic Shack, Cloud Nine, Ball of Confusion and I Wish It Would Rain. They did it all; they danced, they sang, they harmonized, they broke down racial barriers and they rocked. They so belong in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But the biggest baddest granddaddy tune of their whole catalogue, the one that put a stake in the ground for all time, the one that pre-dated songs like Rambling Man and all the others was Papa Was a Rolling Stone. What a masterpiece! Even chopped to bits in 1972 for AM radio, Papa still clocked in around seven minutes. And they still played it! Boy, did they play it. All the way to a 1973 Grammy. Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong had originally written it for a long forgotten Motown act called The Undisputed Truth. You may remember those guys as the band behind the great one hit wonder song Smiling Faces Sometimes. They also recorded Papa later, but it went nowhere. The Temptations grabbed it and ran with it to the tune of nearly 12 minutes on their album.

So much goes on in this song it's just ridiculous. It's a sad story, but man what a story. Papa took off and left some confused children behind and they wanted answers from their mother about why their father wasn't around. Mama just shook her head and said...well you know the rest. I will never get tired of hearing it I have to tell you. Rolling Stone voted it the 168th greatest song of all time recently. As arbitrary as those lists are I devour them every time like the sap that I am. Outraged over this song, scoffing at that one...it's laughable really, but loads of fun. Papa Was a Rolling Stone deserved all of the accolades it received. I thought it was flat brilliant.

Papa Was a Rolling Stone has been covered more than a couple of times. Los Lobos did a pretty fair job a couple of years back. George Michael took a half hearted stab at it too. You have to brave to cover this song. This isn't a song you mess with easily. It has The Temptations so embedded in its DNA it's near impossible to strip them out. I don't know how I stumbled on this cover of Papa Was a Rolling Stone by Was (Not Was), but I'm glad I did. This is a great cover. Oh, check that, I do remember now. Local Boston radio station WFNX-FM, back when they were a little more adventurous, was playing a great song called I Feel Better Than James Brown for a short time back in 1990 from the CD Are You Okay? by Was (Not Was). It was kind of a novelty song, but very good (download it now). Of course, since I was buying everything in sight in those days, I went right out and bought the CD. Much to my surprise and delight a cover of The Temptations song was even better than the song about James Brown. This one is an instant classic cover for me and should be on your iPod for the next month during your workouts. You can thank me later. I have successfully turned on several of my friends to this cover song over the years. I hope you like it too. Enjoy.

Was (Not Was) - Papa Was a Rolling Stone.mp3

Was (Not Was) - Papa Was a Rolling Stone.mp3 YSI