Papa Was A Rollin' Stone (track) by The Temptations
Year: 1972
From the album All Directions (track #3)


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)
Condition: Very Good
Condition: Used
Condition: Used
Upcoming concerts






Listen to Papa Was A Rollin' Stone on YouTube
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone ratings

where:
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
75/100 ![]() | 01/10/2025 21:30 | culwin | ![]() | 75/100 |
85/100 ![]() | 01/01/2025 01:10 | ![]() | ![]() | 76/100 |
100/100 ![]() | 11/18/2024 00:56 | davidleewrong | ![]() | 82/100 |
80/100 ![]() | 11/12/2024 19:09 | ![]() | ![]() | 64/100 |
100/100 ![]() | 08/29/2024 23:50 | matterhornrider | ![]() | 86/100 |
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 91.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 91.3/100. The standard deviation for this track is 7.2.
Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone favourites
Showing all 9 members who have added this track as a favourite
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone comments
Showing all 2 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
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
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment
Your feedback for Papa Was A Rollin' Stone

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.