Talk:Kansas City (R&B song)

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[edit] Changes regarding lyrics

I was under the impression that this song is an entirely different song from the Fats Domino version (as per Kansas City (song)), but this begs to differ. Comments? —Gordon P. Hemsley→✉ 13:38, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I've heard many different versions -- but not the Fats Domino version. If I were a betting man, however, I would assume that it was the same song as the Leiber-Stoller-Littelfield version which was recorded by Littlefield as KC Loving and Wilbert Harrison as Kansas City, and was later rerecorded by Haley and the Comets. The Little Richard/Beatles song is the same tune, except with altered lyrics and the Hey Hey Hey add-on. 23skidoo 13:48, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Maybe the tunes are vaguely similar, but they are not the same song. That's like arguing that "Surfin' USA" is the same song as "Sweet Little Sixteen". The tune is pretty much the same, but the words are different. Or that "Bah Bah Black Sheep" is the same song as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Again, same or similar tune, different words. Wahkeenah 23:03, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I wasn't the one doing the splitting on the original article, but I was under the impression that the Wilbert Harrison version had the same lyrics as the Little Richard/The Beatles version, especially because the new disambig page told me so. A quick lyrics search tells me that's not true. Plus, I just tried to sing the Wilbert Harrison lyrics over The Beatles's song, which has a much faster tempo, and while they're close at times, they're not completely the same. Are we sure that the Wilbert Harrison version was an R&B song? According to the disambig page, it actually has the same lyrics as the Fats Domino version. I'm thinking we should now separate the Wilbert Harrison version from the Little Richard/The Beatles version. (The disambig page I'm referring to, by the way, is Kansas City (song).) Thoughts? —Gordon P. Hemsley→✉ 23:37, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

My initial fix was to re-distinguish the songs on the disambiguation page. I don't quite see why separate articles are needed for songs that merit one or two paragraphs each, but if you're going to have one for (R & B song) you should also have one for... well, is it R & B, or is it "Pop"? That's kind of a fine line. Seems to me like the Beatles version is more like rock, actually. Wahkeenah 23:58, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I believe the way to settle this -- IMO they are the same song, only different arrangements -- is to check the songwriter credits. If both Little Richard/Beatles and Harrison/Littlefield are credited to Leiber-Stoller (or alternately to Littlefield since some sources credit him, not L/S) then that settles it that they're the same song, only with drastically different arrangements. And it's not uncommon for this to happen. Listen to Bill Haley's 1956 original version of See You Later Alligator, and then listen to the version of See You Later Alligator he recorded in 1966 for Orfeon Records. Technically they're supposed to be the same song, but they are substantially different arrangements. 23skidoo 01:01, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, in one of the books I have here, The Beatles' version is credited to Leiber-Stoller. I'm not sure what that means with regard to the other songs, but there you go. —Gordon P. Hemsley→✉ 01:17, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Adding to the confusion is the fact that the Tony Sheridan version (which didn't involve the Beatles but is still related because of Sheridan) appears to be a mixture of both arrangements. 23skidoo 02:48, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox

Some clarification is in order. The version of "Kansas City" recorded by The Beatles on Beatles For Sale should always have been credited as a medley of Leiber & Stoller's "Kansas City" and Little Richard's (Richard Penniman's) "Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey." The omission of Little Richard's song title and writer's credit was an error. That error has since been corrected (including the restoration of money to Little Richard that was incorrectly paid to Leiber & Stoller), and all subsequent official issues of the medley have the correct credits. Pstoller 02:39, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

This article is not supposed to be about the Medley. It is about the original song "Kansaa City" and to list Penniman as writer is incorrect since he is not credited on the versions recorded by Littlefield, Harrison, Haley, Fats Domino, etc. Perhaps a way to get around this in terms of creating an article on every song recorded by the Beatles, is to create a separate article on Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey. The Beatles infobox shouldn't be here at all.. there should be an infobox for the original recording of Kansas City. I've started a thread at the Beatles wikiproject page here suggesting that a separate article on the medley be created. 23skidoo 03:27, 30 September 2006 (UTC)