I guess what struck me while listening to this version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" with the extended instrumental parts was how lush the orchestration was. From what I gather, Motown was still a small operation headed up by a single entrepreneur, Barry Gordy using the converted house ("Hitsville") on West Grand to make that musical magic. Lush orchestration from the likes Percy Faith, Nelson Riddle, Andre Kostelanetz and Henry Mancini were produced in large studios, presumably with a team of artists and technicians, all backed by big corporations. That's why I was particularly struck by the first three amazing minutes of this recording considering its more modest origins.
No, by 1970, Motown was one of the leading state-of-the-art recording companies in the country. Their domination of the Top 40 charts was nearly unrivaled. The old house on West Grand was pretty much an historic relic by that time.