GLOBALRPH MUSICATLAS

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone

The Temptations

Return to resultsYouTubeTitle + artist
Saved songs
LIST YEAR

1972

Annual listening list: initial release cycle, with recent carryovers; not an original-release-date field. Release chronology remains partly unverified.

Genre

Psychedelic soulR&BSoul

Theme

Not classified

Explore this recording

More by this artist

Annual curated selection.

RELEASE DATE & LIST YEAR

Reported release: 1972

Reported release: 1972Date needs verification

Reported in supplied material; independent release-date verification remains open.

The large badge identifies this listening list, not a newly issued recording. Later reissues and renewed chart popularity do not replace an original release date. How years are assigned.

Owner-supplied release annotations
Reported dates in 1972.html. Not independently established; neighboring dates can reflect album/single or regional differences.

BEHIND THE SONG

Inspiration and background

Researched recording background

The song appeared on All Directions. Motown credits Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong and arranger Paul Riser in its account of the record's Grammy success.

Evidence scope: New 1.7 source-specific paraphrase; not a claim of complete song-history review.

Sources for this information

The Temptations - Classic Motown
Only the recording/background facts in this paragraph; reviewed 2026-10-12.

Other appearances and versions

catalog version unspecified

Original release date and exact pressing/version are not independently established.

An annual chart year and an original release date are different. Similar titles may be covers or different masters; no audio fingerprint has been performed.

Sources and scope

Imported annual selection - further review needed

Editorial artist-repertoire classification

Owner-supplied 1972.html
Imported annual selection. Title, artist and year have not all been independently corroborated; retained source annotations are archived, not verified song histories.

ALL 66 ANNUAL COLLECTIONS

1960-2025. Each year contains 150 selections.

All 66 years
Show every year by decade
MusicAtlas homeComplete year indexAll 50 artist quizzesReturn to top