Since its premiere in October 1972, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" remains one of the highest-performing singles in the Temptations' catalog — and one of Motown's timeless classics. The song quickly rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the end of 1972, and snagged the group two GRAMMY wins at the 1973 GRAMMYs.
In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, Motown legend Smokey Robinson takes the stage to accept the Temptations' award for Best Duo/Group R&B Vocal Performance at the 15th GRAMMY Awards. Robinson was a longtime collaborator of the group, writing some of their most notable hits, including "My Girl," "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "Get Ready."
"I would like to say it's a great pleasure for me to come and accept this award for the Temptations, who have always been fantastic and are doing special, fantastic things," Robinson praised, alluding to their "musical marriage" to songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield.
Press play on the video above to watch Smokey Robinson accept the Temptations' golden gramophone for "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" at the 1973 GRAMMYs, and keep checking back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.
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