Temptations – "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1966)

I can feel it in my bones

Any day you’ll be gone

Oooh, baby, I'm losing you

[I featured covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by Rare Earth and Rod Stewart on my wildly successful little blog before featuring the original Temptations recording of that song.  I can’t think of another truly great record from that era that has two equally great covers, so I’ve decided to induct all three of those recordings into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  Here's my January 2024 post about the original Temptations recording of “(I Know) I’m Losing You."]

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My 24th season of basketball refereeing did not get off to a great start.

I had been assigned to do a girls’ junior-varsity game at 530p at a high school just a few miles from my apartment.  (So far, so good.)

But the visiting team – which was being bussed from a high school in the most distant part of the county – ran into rush-hour traffic, and arrived half an hour later than they should have.

Don’t ever send me this greeting card!

Then the very loud buzzer that the scoreboard operator uses to alert the referees when there’s a substitute who wants to enter the game got stuck in the first quarter, necessitating a long delay while someone went into the electrical closet at the school to disconnect and then reset the buzzer.  (My hearing is almost back to normal, thank you very much!)

But then the same thing then happened in the second quarter.  That time, the effort to reset the buzzer resulted in both scoreboards going blank.  So we had to wait until the athletic director located the small portable scoreboard that is used for kids’ rec league games in that gym on weekends.  (That scoreboard wasn’t satisfactory for several reasons, but we really had no choice.)

The game started out looking like it was going to be a blowout, but it ended up coming down to the home team’s last shot.  That last shot was blocked, but the home team players, coaches, and fans were certain that the shooter was fouled.

They were kind enough to point out our error to us as we left the court.

*     *     *     *     *

My partner and I had changed into our uniforms in the PE department office.  I had left my phone and keys in a zippered coat pocket before heading to the gym to do  the game, but my smart watch wasn’t with them when we returned to change back into our street clothes.  

I didn’t think much about that – I figured I had stuck it somewhere in the small suitcase I use to transport my uniform, shoes, and whistle to games, and that I would find it once I got back home and unpacked.

But the watch not only wasn’t in my coat pocket, it wasn’t in my suitcase either.  Nor was it in my car when I made the long trip from my apartment to my parking garage to check.  

The watch

I texted one of the referees who was working the varsity game that followed mine and asked him to look around the dressing area after his game was over, but he told me that he didn’t see my watch anywhere.

*     *     *     *     *

There’s an app on my phone that controls various aspects of my smart watch’s operation.  I opened that app, thinking that there might be a “Find My Watch” function I could use to track it down – and sure enough, there was such a function.  

I didn’t know if “Find My Watch” worked only if I was in the immediate vicinity of my watch.  But I had nothing to lose, so I hit the button.

A jazzy little ringtone immediately started to sound, so I knew the watch must be nearby.  But where could it be?

After listening intently for a few seconds, I realized that the ringtone seemed to be coming from inside my left shoe – which I was still wearing.

The shoe

Sure enough, the watch was in my left shoe – where I had hidden it after changing into my referee shoes before the game.

Somehow I had managed to change back into my street shoes, walk to my car, drive home, walk to my apartment, walk back to my parking garage, and then walk back to my apartment once again without noticing that there was a watch in my left shoe.

*     *     *     *     *

2 or 3 lines has previously featured the Rare Earth and Rod Stewart covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” so I figured it was about time to feature the original 1966 recording of that song by the Temptations.

Click here to listen to today’s featured record.

Click here to buy that record from Amazon.

Temptations – "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" (1972)

Papa never was much on thinking

Spent most of his time 

Chasing women and drinking

(Nice work if you can get it!)

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The last 2 or 3 lines was about a loving and responsible father who did the best he could to provide for his family.  Click here to read it.

Today’s 2 or 3 lines is about a very different kind of father.

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The titular character of today’s featured record was the biological father of his children, but had no other role in their lives – they never even met him in person.

There are a variety of terms used to describe such men.  “Birth father” or “biological father” are neutral terms for a man whose role in the lives of his children is limited to his begetting them.  “Bio-dad” and “baby daddy” are somewhat slangier terms that mean the same thing.

Perhaps the most accurate term for such men is “sperm donor.”

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The “Papa” of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” was not only a bad father, but also a bad husband.  (Word on the streets is that he had “three outside children and another wife,” and I’m guessing he didn’t treat them any better than his other family.)

While he may not have been guilty of robbery or burglary, it appears that his store front preachin’ was a con – his “stealin’ in the name of the Lord” would likely have been considered criminal fraud.  

To be fair, it’s no crime for a man to spend most of his time chasing women and drinking.  (I know a lot of women who would like to see that changed.)

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The Undisputed Truth – who are best known for their hit single, “Smiling Faces” – were the first group to release a recording of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.”

The Temptations’ cover of the song made it all the way to #1 on the Billboard “Hot 100” despite the fact that it was almost seven minutes long.  (The single by the Undisputed Truth was only 3:25.) 

Here’s how one reviewer described the Temptations’ record:

A towering monument out of tense hi-hats and pulsating bass and shivering strings and hard-strutting chicken-scratch guitars and panicked trumpet-blasts. And the merciless four-four stomp-clap beat predicted not just disco but house music, as well.

The Temptations also released an album version that was 12 minutes long – a little too long, if you ask me.  Their single is clearly the Goldilocks recording of the song.

Click here to listen to the single edit of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by the Temptations.

Click here to buy that recording from Amazon. 

Temptations – "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1966)

I can feel it in my bones

Any day you’ll be gone

Oooh, baby, I'm losing you

My 24th season of basketball refereeing did not get off to a great start.

I had been assigned to do a girls’ junior-varsity game at 530p at a high school just a few miles from my apartment.  (So far, so good.)

But the visiting team – which was being bussed from a high school in the most distant part of the county – ran into rush-hour traffic, and arrived half an hour later than they should have.

Don’t ever send me this greeting card!

Then the very loud buzzer that the scoreboard operator uses to alert the referees when there’s a substitute who wants to enter the game got stuck in the first quarter, necessitating a long delay while someone went into the electrical closet at the school to disconnect and then reset the buzzer.  (My hearing is almost back to normal, thank you very much!)

But then the same thing then happened in the second quarter.  That time, the effort to reset the buzzer resulted in both scoreboards going blank.  So we had to wait until the athletic director located the small portable scoreboard that is used for kids’ rec league games in that gym on weekends.  (That scoreboard wasn’t satisfactory for several reasons, but we really had no choice.)

The game started out looking like it was going to be a blowout, but it ended up coming down to the home team’s last shot.  That last shot was blocked, but the home team players, coaches, and fans were certain that the shooter was fouled.

They were kind enough to point out our error to us as we left the court.

*     *     *     *     *

My partner and I had changed into our uniforms in the PE department office.  I had left my phone and keys in a zippered coat pocket before heading to the gym to do  the game, but my smart watch wasn’t with them when we returned to change back into our street clothes.  

I didn’t think much about that – I figured I had stuck it somewhere in the small suitcase I use to transport my uniform, shoes, and whistle to games, and that I would find it once I got back home and unpacked.

But the watch not only wasn’t in my coat pocket, it wasn’t in my suitcase either.  Nor was it in my car when I made the long trip from my apartment to my parking garage to check.  

The watch

I texted one of the referees who was working the varsity game that followed mine and asked him to look around the dressing area after his game was over, but he told me that he didn’t see my watch anywhere.

*     *     *     *     *

There’s an app on my phone that controls various aspects of my smart watch’s operation.  I opened that app, thinking that there might be a “Find My Watch” function I could use to track it down – and sure enough, there was such a function.  

I didn’t know if “Find My Watch” worked only if I was in the immediate vicinity of my watch.  But I had nothing to lose, so I hit the button.

A jazzy little ringtone immediately started to sound, so I knew the watch must be nearby.  But where could it be?

After listening intently for a few seconds, I realized that the ringtone seemed to be coming from inside my left shoe – which I was still wearing.

The shoe

Sure enough, the watch was in my left shoe – where I had hidden it after changing into my referee shoes before the game.

Somehow I had managed to change back into my street shoes, walk to my car, drive home, walk to my apartment, walk back to my parking garage, and then walk back to my apartment once again without noticing that there was a watch in my left shoe.

*     *     *     *     *

2 or 3 lines has previously featured the Rare Earth and Rod Stewart covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” so I figured it was about time to feature the original 1966 recording of that song by the Temptations.

Click here to listen to today’s featured record.

Click here to buy that record from Amazon.

Rare Earth – "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1970)

It’s all over your face

Someone’s taken my place

Ooh baby, I’m losing you

February is in the rear-view mirror, but I’m not ready to say sayonara to the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME just yet.

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Rare Earth – which began life as the Sunliners in Detroit in 1960 – wasn’t the first all-white group signed to a record contract by Motown.

But they were the first all-white band signed to a record contract by Motown to have a hit.

Both of Rare Earth’s first two hit singles – “Get Ready” and “(I Know) I’m Losing You” – were covers of Temptations hit.  And both charted higher than the originals.

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We could argue until we’re blue in thew face whether the Rare Earth or Rod Stewart covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” is better.

But life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.  So let’s just agree they’re both great, and leave it at that. 

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Click here to listen to the album version of Rare Earth’s cover of “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

Click here to listen to the single version, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

Click here to view a rather bizarre video of the group performing the song on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Click here to buy the album version of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” from Amazon.