Kansas City (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Song) - Wilbert Harrison Version

Wilbert Harrison Version

In 1959, after several years of performing Littlefield's "K. C. Lovin'", Wilbert Harrison decided to record the song. In March 1959, Harrison and a trio with Wild Jimmy Spruill entered a New York studio to record it for record producer Bobby Robinson at Fury Records. "Kansas City" was released on a single by Fury Records as catalog number 1023 in 1959.

Although the song's arrangement varied little from Littlefield's, it "struck such a solid shuffle groove that it was unforgettable", with inspired rhythm and solo guitar work by Spruill. Harrison's song was issued with Leiber and Stoller's original name, "Kansas City", but changed the refrain to "They got some crazy little women there, and I'm gonna get me one" and dropped one twelve-bar section.

Shortly after the song's release, several other versions appeared. Billboard magazine's pop song pick of the week for March 30, 1959 listed five different releases of "Kansas City": Harrison's and versions by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters (King 5195), Rocky Olson (Chess 1723), Rockin' Ronald & the Rebels (End 1043), and a reissue by Littlefield (Federal 12351). A week later, the magazine announced the release of a version by Little Richard (Specialty 664), which was a medley of "Kansas City" with some new lyrics and an earlier Richard song "Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey". Although Ballard's and Richard's versions both appeared in the lower reaches of the Billboard charts, Harrison's was a runaway hit, reaching number one in both the R&B and pop charts, where it remained for seven weeks, and became one of the top selling records of 1959.

Wilbert Harrison also recorded an answer song to the same tune as "Kansas City". It was titled "Goodbye Kansas City" and was released on a single by Fury Records as catalog number 1028 in 1960.