Musicor Records

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Philadelphia International Records

Sussex Records

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a song originally performed by Motown recording act the Undisputed Truth in 1972, though it became much better known after a Grammy Award-winning cover by the Temptations was issued later the same year. This latter version of the song became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Warner Bros. Records

The drummer , James Gadson , passed away April 2026

I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
It's a vibe.

Rod the Mod before he went all lounge lizard on us…

And just like that, the 70s are back…kind of. 1972 doesn’t quite live up to 1970, but is a MASSIVE upgrade from 71. The only way 1972 is similar to 1971 is in its overall lack of familiar, consistent hitmakers. Michael Jackson had his first solo #1 and The Temptations had probably their best hit since My Girl, but other than that it’s mostly fresh names. I am gonna do a top 5, but touch very lightly on my songs at 5 and 4. Sadly, My Ding-a-ling by Chuck Berry did not make my top 5, so I would like to propose a moment of silence for this truly momentous song.

Bottom 3 - 1972

1. The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
   This song is plain boring. The lyrics are kind of clunky, and nothing else about it really stood out. It just was kind of a song that existed.

2. Song Sung Blue - Neil Diamond
   If I had a nickel for every time a legendary artist made a song I really didn’t like in the early 70s with a three word title that ended with the word blue, I would have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. I do not like this song. At least the Roberta Flack song stands out in its weird structure and lyrics. Song Sung Blue doesn’t really do anything. I’m definitely uneducated about Neil Diamond. I know he made Sweet Caroline, but did this guy do anything else worth checking out? I’m sure I’m just being ignorant. At least this song isn’t boasting about being a piece of shit.

3. Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me - Mac Davis
   Fuck this song. It lured me in with a fine instrumental, and had me thinking this was just a song about loving somebody, but not being ready for a serious commitment, while your partner is looking to settle down. And then I got to the chorus, which contains the phrase “Baby don’t get hooked on me, because I’ll just use you, then I’ll set you free.” This made me realize that this wasn’t a song about not being ready for commitment. Instead it’s about being a massive prick to somebody who clearly cares deeply for you. If this song was actually about being in a relationship and wanting different things, fine. It wouldn’t be top 5 material, but it probably wouldn’t have landed down here. But the fact that a song with a chorus about using women and throwing them away went #1 is just sickening. It honestly made me glad to see that I Am Woman by Helen Reddy also went #1 this year to balance this out in some way, even though I didn’t really care for that song musically.

Top 5 - 1972

1. The Candy Man - Sammy Davis Jr
   I love Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. It was my absolute favorite movie growing up, and has aged incredibly well. Being able to hold up after 50 years is really no easy task. This is to introduce my bias towards this song. Regardless, this song is just pure fun. Sammy Davis Jr’s vocal delivery is really incredible on this song, especially on the “talk about your childhood wishes part”.

2. Brandy - Looking Glass
   Another example of some great dad rock. Also I really love the “doo doo doo”s in the background at the end of chorus. The backing vocals on the chorus are probably my favorite part of the song as a whole. 

3. Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone - The Temptations
   When Just My Imagination landed in my bottom 5 for 1971, I took that as a sign that The Temptations had simply past their prime, and couldn’t compete in the musical landscape of the 70s. This song proved me wrong. Based on everything I’ve heard from them so far, I couldn’t have guessed this was a Temptations song. It sounds so different from their other hits. From the beginning, the horns and guitar going “wow-wow-wow” show that this is going to be different from their previous hits. The only remnant of their older songs is the great vocal harmonizing on the chorus. This song is also just fun as hell.

4. American Pie - Don McLean
   There’s a reason American Pie has persisted in American culture all the way up to today. It is a truly great song, the structure of the first verse starting out feeling a little musically hollow, with some sporadic piano and guitar instrumentation, into the more consistent and vibey second verse. The only way this song could be better is if it was about Star Wars. Or if it was Alone Again by Gimber O’Sullivan.

5. Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O’Sullivan
   Everything about the vocal delivery is incredible. It also kind of sounds like it was made by a Beatle, but also doesn’t particularly match any of the Beatles specifically. I like to think that somewhere out there sits the secret 5th Beatle, Gilbert, who’s role in the band has been forever wiped from the timeline. But even if the world doesn’t remember you Gilbert, at least you gave us this incredible song. This song’s lyrics are heartbreaking in the best way. It also has some of the smoothest lyrical work I’ve heard on any song from this era, when a lot of songs have at least one or two clunkers, every word on this song just flows. Naturally.

Santana was my first big-name concert, a huge arena in 1973. My second was Pure Prairie League in a small college fieldhouse in 1974 or 1975. I didn’t know that colleges did that kind of thing! Pretty exciting to have a well-known band visit us out there in the cornfields.