Kansas City (Leiber and Stoller song)
| "Kansas City" | ||||
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| Single by Wilbert Harrison | ||||
| B-side | "Listen, My Darling" | |||
| Released | April 1959 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 rpm record | |||
| Recorded | New York March 1959 |
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| Genre | R&B, rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:22 | |||
| Label | Fury (Cat. no. 1023) | |||
| Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |||
| Producer(s) | Bobby Robinson | |||
| Wilbert Harrison singles chronology | ||||
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| "Kansas City" | ||||
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| Single by Little Richard | ||||
| B-side | "Lonesome and Blue" | |||
| Released | April 1959 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 rpm record | |||
| Recorded | Los Angeles November 29, 1955 |
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| Genre | R&B, Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:37 | |||
| Label | Specialty (Cat. no. 664) | |||
| Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |||
| Producer(s) | Art Rupe | |||
| Little Richard singles chronology | ||||
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| "Kansas City" | |
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| Song by Little Richard from the album Well Alright! | |
| Released | November 1970 |
| Recorded | New Orleans September 13, 1955 |
| Genre | Rock and roll |
| Length | 2:16 |
| Label | Specialty (Cat. no. SP 2136) |
| Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller |
| Producer(s) | Bumps Blackwell |
| Well Alright! track listing | |
| 12 | |
| "Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey" | |
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| Song by The Beatles from the album Beatles for Sale | |
| Released | December 4, 1964 |
| Recorded | October 18, 1964 |
| Genre | Rock and roll |
| Length |
2:33 (mono version) 2:38 (stereo version) |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller/Richard Penniman |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
| "Kansas City" | ||||
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| Single by James Brown | ||||
| B-side | "Stone Fox" | |||
| Released | 1967 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues | |||
| Length | 2:59 | |||
| Label |
King 6086 |
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| Writer(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | James Brown | |||
| James Brown charting singles chronology | ||||
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"Kansas City" is a rhythm and blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952. First recorded by Little Willie Littlefield the same year, the song later became a #1 hit when it was recorded by Wilbert Harrison in 1959. "Kansas City" became one of Leiber and Stoller's "most recorded tunes, with more than three hundred versions," with several appearing in the R&B and pop record charts.
"Kansas City" was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, two nineteen-year-old rhythm and blues fans from Los Angeles, who had their first success writing Charles Brown's #7 R&B chart hit "Hard Times". Neither had been to Kansas City, but were inspired by Big Joe Turner records.
Through a connection to producer Ralph Bass, they wrote "Kansas City" specifically for West Coast blues/R&B artist Little Willie Littlefield. There was an initial disagreement between the two writers over the song's melody: Leiber (who wrote the lyrics) preferred a traditional blues song, while Stoller wanted a more distinctive vocal line; Stoller ultimately prevailed. They taught the song to Littlefield at Maxwell Davis' house, who arranged and provided the tenor sax for the song. Littlefield recorded the song in Los Angeles in 1952, during his first recording session for Federal Records, a King Records subsidiary. Federal's Ralph Bass changed the title to "K. C. Lovin'", which he reportedly considered to sound "hipper" than "Kansas City". Littlefield's record had some success in parts of the U.S., but it did not reach the national chart.
In 1955 Little Richard recorded two rather different versions of "Kansas City": on September, 13 (supervised by Bumps Blackwell), and on November, 29 (with five vocalists, supervised by Art Rupe). The first version, which was very close to the original song, was released much later, in November 1970, on compilation album Well Alright! The second version which had the same name, but which had been substantially re-worked by Little Richard (in particular, this version featured the new refrain starting with words "Hey, hey, hey, hey; Hey baby, hey child, hey now") was released in March 1959 on The Fabulous Little Richard and in April 1959 as single (position 95 of US Charts, and position 26 of UK Singles Chart). Later this particular version has been covered by The Beatles.
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