stereo, but without the congas. The B-side was the instrumental backing by the Funk Brothers without the Temptations' vocals (though Damon Harris' final chorus is included after a single "Unngh!" at the end of the second verse), this version appears on the Funk Brothers' 2003 compilation 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection. Reception "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" rose to number one on the U.S. pop charts and number five on the U.S. R&B charts, becoming the Temptations' final pop number-one hit. The song, the anchor of the 1972 Temptations album All Directions, won three 1973 Grammys: its A-side won for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group; its B-side won for Best R&B Instrumental (awarded to Whitfield and arranger/conductor Paul Riser); and Whitfield and Barrett Strong won for Best R&B Song as the song's composers. Kelefa Sanneh described the song as, "nearly seven glorious minutes long (the album version was twelve) sustained by little more than a perfect bassline and a few artfully placed hand claps". Stereogum called it, "a monolith. A towering monument out of tense hi-hats and pulsating bass and shivering strings and hard-strutting chicken-scratch guitars and panicked trumpet-blasts. And the merciless four-four stomp-clap beat predicted not just disco but house music, as well." Covers and remixes "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was sampled in the 1973 break-in record, "Super Fly Meets Shaft" (US No. 31). Bill "Wolf" Wolfer created an electronic cover of the song for his 1983 debut album Wolf. The single peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1983, as well as number 47 on the R&B Charts. Michael Jackson provided backing vocals. The group Was (Not Was) covered the song on their 1990 album Are You Okay?. Their version reached number 12 in the UK. Rap trio Migos utilized the Temptations version as their main sample on the track "Avalanche" off their 2021 album Culture III. The Black Crowes covered the song in a live performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on May 6, 2022, the day their EP 1972 was released. Charts The Temptations version Remix version Was (Not Was) version Certifications Personnel Undisputed Truth version Lead and background vocals by Joe Harris, Billie Rae Calvin, and Brenda Joyce Temptations version Lead vocals by Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Richard Street, and Damon Harris Background vocals by Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Richard Street, Damon Harris, and Otis Williams Arranged and