WEDNESDAY WRAP

CD SHOWCASE MEMORIES

REQUESTS: Please advise if…
…you are a member of a singing group or band & would like to be featured
…you would like me to feature a favorite song of yours not played on the radio

Ending today by listening to a pair of same name songs, ‘Oklahoma!’s’ “Kansas City” & Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City”, while checking under the hood of an Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible, photographed by OC,SHer CHRIS L S at the 2015 Ocean Gate Car Show….

#1 “Kansas City” | ‘Oklahoma!’ Cast
Written by Oscar Hammerstein & composed by Richard Rogers, this song was published in 1943 as part of the musical ‘Oklahoma!’. The song is used to describe cowboy Will Parker’s experiences during his excursion to KC, including the wonders of the city & its entertainment options. Due to movie censorship, some of the lyrics were altered for the 1955 film. In the original Broadway musical, you hear these lyrics:
“I could swear that she was padded from her shoulder to her heel.
But later in the second act, when she began to peel,
She proved that everything she had was absolutely real!”
For the 1955 movie adaptation, you hear these lyrics:
“I could swear that she was padded from her shoulder to her heel.
But then she started dancing and her dancing made me feel
That every single thing she had was absolutely real!”

#2 “Kansas City” | Wilbert Harrison
9 years later, this R&B song was written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. That same year (1952), Little Willie Littlefield recorded it, but it didn’t become a #1 hit until 7 years later (1959), when Harrison released it as a single that April. At the time, Billboard magazine indicated at least 5 versions of the song were on the chart, with Harrison’s the clear runaway hit, claiming #1 on both the R&B & Hot 100 charts for 7 weeks. The song was also recorded by Little Richard (2 versions in 1955), The Beatles (1964), James Brown (1967), among many others such as Brenda Lee (1961), Fats Domino (1964), Sammy Davis Jr (1964) & The Everly Brothers (1965).