BEFORE THE HIT VERSION
CXLVI: PAPA WAS A ROLLIN' STONE. Continues in May (after Eurovision).

BEFORE IT WAS A

HIT SONG…

These songs are well known but you may not know about the earlier attempts to score a hit record with prior versions of the same song.

Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone

Motown benefited greatly from having some fine songwriters on its roster, including Smokey Robinson and the team of Brian & Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier. When the latter trio left the label, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong were in their ascendancy, penning classics for Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and Gladys Knight & The Pips. In 1972, their composition "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" reached #1 in America. 

The Grammy Award- winning track was a hit for The Temptations. Although this remains the definitive and most successful version of the song, the original was cut by another Motown group, The Undisputed Truth.

Released earlier in the same year, the latter's take on the song barely dented the US Hot 100. It climbed to #24 on the R&B chart. The song was included on The Undisputed Truth's 'Law Of The Land' album.

 

Each new song will be added to the spotify playlist named: ‘Before It Was A Hit Song’.  You can check out the previous earlier / original versions of the hit songs you know and love.

The playlist and other Caffe` Latte` selections can be found at:

https://open.spotify.com/user/alanrosscaffelatte

spotify:user:alanrosscaffelatte