‘It Was the 3rd of September’ [EUR Video Throwback]

*We can’t be the only ones who wake up singing this Temptations classic every September 3rd.

The opening line to “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” refers to today’s very date, thanks to songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. But before the line was filtered through the sandpaper soulfulness of Temptations singer Dennis Edwards in 1972, it was in the hands of The Undisputed Truth, a Motown recording act that Whitfield actually formed in 1970 to troll Temptations fans.

As the story goes, Whitfield was getting an earful from Temps fans accusing him of using the group as a means to deliver his own extended music arrangements.  Group members were also reportedly upset that Whitfield’s extended instrumentation was getting more attention than their vocals, and they pressed for Whitfield to write them more ballads, where their vocals would be front and center.

Hence the name The Undisputed Truth for his new group, which featured Billie Calvin and Brenda Evans (who sang background vocals at Motown, including assists on the hits “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” for Diana Ross and “Still Water (Love)” for The Four Tops) and Joe Harris, a one-time member of The Ohio Untouchables (later The Ohio Players).

The Undisputed Truth has been active in various iterations for nearly five decades. But their lone Top 40 hit in the United States would come at the very beginning of their run, with 1971’s “Smiling Faces Sometimes.” The Whitfield-penned cautionary tale was originally recorded by the Temptations before he gave it to The Undisputed Truth. It went to No. 3 on the Pop Chart and became their signature song.

A number of singles from The Undisputed Truth became minor hits, and many of them were also songs for Whitfield’s main act, The Temptations, among them 1971’s “You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth” and “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone.”

The latter was penned by Whitfield and Strong in 1971 and released as a single by The Undisputed Truth in 1972. The following year, it was included on their 1973 album “Law of the Land.”

But Whitfield, also in 1972, reworked The Undisputed Truth’s 3 1/2 minute version into a 12 minute psychedelic soul workout for The Temptations’ 1972 album “All Directions.” The recording session for “Papa” was reportedly contentious, with Whitfield allegedly forcing Edwards to re-record his parts dozens of times until finally matching the angry, bitter attitude of a man singing about his deadbeat-ass pappy.

Grab a snack and listen to the full 12 minute version below:

This brings us back to the Edwards-sung opening line: “It was the third of September/That day I’ll always remember/’cause that was the day/that my daddy died.” Word had it that Edwards was not happy with this line, as his own father was said to have died on that date. But it was actually the third of October.

The shorter 7″ release of this Temptations version went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and scored three Grammy Awards in 1973.

While The Undisputed Truth’s original version of “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” has been largely forgotten, the Temptations’ versions became instant classics. The 12-minute version was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the group’s three songs on the list.

Guess we’ll see you back here on the 21st night of September.

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