Papa Was A Rollin' Stone (track)
by The Temptations
Year: 1972
From the album All Directions (track #3)
Listen on Spotify
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone appears on the following album(s) by The Temptations:
- Psychedelic Soul (track #1) (compilation) (2003)
- Anthology (track #37) (compilation) (1973)
- All Directions (track #3) (this album) (1972)
- The Ultimate Collection (track #17) (compilation) (1997)
- At Their Very Best (track #7) (compilation) (2001)
- Gold (track #24) (compilation) (2001)
- 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection - The Best Of The Temptations Volume 2 The '70s, '80s, '90s (track #4) (compilation) (2000)
- The Definitive Collection (track #15) (compilation) (2008)
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Condition: Used
eBay
Condition: Used
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Papa Was A Rollin' Stone ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 01/03/2026 05:37 | Exist-en-ciel | 78,161 | 70/100 |
| ! | 12/10/2025 08:59 | plasmicmist | 7,586 | 91/100 |
| ! | 10/19/2025 19:34 | dukeboxkool | 7,108 | 75/100 |
| ! | 01/10/2025 21:30 | culwin | 20,491 | 75/100 |
| ! | 01/01/2025 01:10 |  AAL2014 | 35,398 | 76/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 1% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 89.5/100, a mean average of 91.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 91.2/100. The standard deviation for this track is 7.3.
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Papa Was A Rollin' Stone comments
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My all-time favorite song. Gives me chills every time I listen to it. Norman Whitfield's production is flawless: a string arrangement that doesn't soften the impact at all, the trumpet, Dennis Coffey's tasty guitar, and, of course, that incredible bass ostinato. The peak of R&B production. When I heard this on the radio in the 70s as a kid, it evoked a whole world I didn't quite understand in my mind.
what a cool ass song
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