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1959:
"Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison"
"they've got some crazy lookin' women there, and I'm gonna get me one."

Kansas City was one of the earliest compositions of the songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was first recorded in 1952 by Little Willie Littlefield as "K.C. Lovin'." In 1959, King Curtis heard a version by Wilbert Harrison and recommended that Leiber and Stoller take a listen. By the time the record was released, there were five different versions. Rocky Olson and Hank Ballard both landed their versions in the top 100, but Harrison's was by far the most popular, starting at the bottom (#100) and eventually reaching #1 on May 18, 1959. "Kansas City" has been recorded by hundreds of artists, including The Beatles, and was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll." In the Harrison version of the song, the lyric is "they've got some crazy lookin' women there, and I'm gonna get me one," but originally it was "they got a crazy way of lovin' there, and I'm gonna get me some."

 


 

 

LYRICS:
I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come
I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come
They got a crazy way of loving there
And I'm gonna get me some.I

'll be standing on the corner
On the corner of Twelfth Street and Vine
I'm gonna be standing on the corner
On the corner of Twelfth Street and Vine
With my Kansas City baby
And a bottle of Kansas City wine.

Well I might take a train
I might take a plane, but if I have to walk
I'm gonna get there just the same

I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come
They got a crazy way of loving there
And I'm gonna get me some.

I'm gonna pack my clothes
Leave at the break of dawn
I'm gonna pack my clothes
Everybody will be sleeping
Nobody will know where I've gone
Cause if I stay in town
I know I'm gonna die.
Gotta find a friendly city
And that's the reason why,

I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City here I come
They got a crazy way of loving there
And I'm gonna get me some.
week debuted highest ranking Date Highest Rank Weeks in Top Twenty Weeks in Top Forty BillBoard Rank Cashbox Ranking GT rank
1959 4 27 1 1959 5 18 10 12 9 13 11