The Temptations
My Girl
Papa Was A Rolling Stone
vs
The Carpenters
We’ve Only Just Begun
Superstar
“My Girl” (1964) was co-written by Smoky Robinson of the Miracles and sung by the (later expelled) lead singer David Ruffin.
“Papa Was A Rolling Stone” (1972) a 12 minute song (the edited single was 7 minutes) was co-written by Norman Whitfield, the producer since 1966.
Both songs reached no. 1 on the pop charts. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” belongs to the Psychedelic Soul era of the group. Children asking their mom about their irresponsible dad is the lyrical hook of the song—and the musical hooks are many.
It shouldn’t matter what your musical tastes are—it’s difficult to appreciate the Carpenters after being strapped into “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” one of the greatest Motown songs ever made. The great thing about Psychedelic Soul (the most important neglected genre ever?) is that its strings, as lush as they are, never sound syrupy. The funky bass keeps them from seeming so.
But as with fine dining, the palette must be cleansed and the new dish appreciated. The musical arrangements of “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Superstar” are excellent (not expansive, but to the point) and Karen Carpenter’s voice is magical. “We’ve Only Just Begun” is sweetly optimistic and “Superstar” is sweetly sad (“loneli-ness is such a sad affair”). The chief reason the two Carpenter songs sound insubstantial compared to “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” may have something to do with the duration of the latter—you can’t settle into a song which is 3 minutes. Let’s face it: Good music is a high and we want to be high for a long time.
Winner Temptations
Janis Joplin
Move Over
Me and Bobby McGee
vs
Love
Alone Again Or
A House Is Not A Motel
The band, Love, was going to be big, but Elektra signed and pushed their LA scene counterparts the Doors instead. The haunting acoustic-based-rock-with-horns-and-strings of their album Forever Changes (tracks one and two are “Alone Again Or” and “A House Is Not A Motel”) belongs to a place not of hit records but this-is-a-hit-record-in-my-head-only—which can be quite intoxicating. The lyrics have meaning, but only in a weird way. ‘We are going to make whatever music we feel like making and use whatever comes along. It will be a mad and sad pastiche, but whatever comes of it, we don’t really care.’ This is the underlying feeling of Forever Changes and due to some kind of miracle, it works, and is really good. It’s really, really good.
“Me and Bobby McGee” is about the highway, but “Move Over” as music, is a vehicle blasting down the road to no destination, too. The fantastic band drives and Janis is the passenger frightened of the speed—but she herself is the speed at the same time. The mournful acoustic opening of “Me and Bobby McGee” is peaceful—but not for long. “Me and Bobby McGee” is a “story song,” but also a rocket ship. Nothing stands still in these Janis Joplin songs. Her voice may have more emotion than any voice ever recorded—but it moves faster than we have time to appreciate.
Winner Love
Bill Withers
Lean On Me
Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone
vs
Patsy Cline
Crazy
I Fall To Pieces
Bill Withers spent years in the navy and working in factories before his 1972 song “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone” made him famous when he was in his early 30s. The first album cover actually shows him with his lunch box. There wasn’t enough money to record the song properly and six months passed between one session and another—his career was mostly Bill Withers writing and singing and “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean On Me” are tremendous songs—they are AM hits, not long or complex, but masterpieces, nonetheless. Soul ballad classics—two of the best ever written.
Patsy Cline almost died in a car crash in 1961 and died in a plane crash in 1963—“I Fall To Pieces” and “Crazy,” two perfectly crafted ballads, emerged in those years, and there is something both seamless and broken about Patsy Cline’s voice—she has this fancy way of hitting extra notes, but in a manner one hardly notices; she sounds like she’s not even trying to sing the song; it’s the smoothest delivery ever. The sweetness of the song arrives intact. And yet right on the surface there’s real sorrow and pain.
There’s a little space between Bill Withers and the great songs he sings; between Patsy Cline and the songs she sings there is none. These artists are very similar; both superb and matter-of-fact. Close contest.
Winner Patsy Cline
The Bee Gees
Lonely Days
Staying Alive
vs
Ed Sheeran
Perfect
The Shape Of You
Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” and “The Shape Of You” show off his vocal skill—completely in control in both songs, but sounding almost like different singers in each. The musical arrangement is solid in “Perfect” and scintillating in “The Shape Of You,” the second-most watched song in You Tube history, with over five billion views since it was uploaded in 2017. The Englishman seems to have become the Marvin Gaye of nerds. Both Ed Sheeran songs tell the girl she’s sexy a lot, in a standard, repetitive, pop manner.
The Bee Gees “Lonely Days” and “Staying Alive” feature the 60s pop, and 70s disco, Bee Gees—it’s almost a mini-demonstration of how the Bee Gees tried to overtake the Beatles: first, on their own turf—the 1970 “Lonely Days” is mistaken by many as later Beatles, with its exquisite melody and stunning variety-within-a-song—and second, in a whole new genre which took the world by storm; “Staying Alive” (1977) finds the Bee Gees in disco mode as melodic and creative as ever—the Bee Gees were talented songwriters, and ultimately they were songwriters first—and they rose to the occasion as performers, willing their voices to inhabit uncannily their beautiful songs.
Winner The Bee Gees
The Temptations, Love, Patsy Cline and the Bee Gees advance.