I'm a trucker and am in Kansas City dropping a load of train wheels. Everytime I come to Kansas City, this song comes to mind. I'm 58 years old, and love all kinds of music from the 50's to today.
And while several local singers around my area (including me) have covered this song, nobody does it "right" to my taste, "right" being something like Harrison's version. I'm still trying to get closer to getting the Jimmy Spruell Telecaster guitar solo down, too. It takes some patience and restraint and staying on the beat. Thanks for posting this, Wilbert looks great!
...I come back and listen to this occasionally.....this is like Bob Beamon's 29 ft Long Jump...it can't be outdone...in 60 years...it has not been beaten....The guy casually walks out on stage....and does a World Class version before a nation- wide audience....
@@LonskiBig first time I heard him sing this I fell in love with this version. I have heard it many times sung by others, but this version surely is my favorite out of all others.
@@UncleSam13 Poetic License. Although the authors of the song had never been to Kansas City before, that location at that time was a notorious pickup spot for sporting ladies. The park is still shady and hosts various activities of dubious legality. So standing at the projected corner of 12th and Vine will still getcha some.
Also: • Come Softly to Me by The Fleetwoods • Venus by Frankie Avalon • I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos • Since I Don’t Have You by The Skyliners
I was 13 years old when I first heard this song 🎵. Such good memories of the 50's and 60's I just wish I could go back in time. So much fun with my friends. 🙂😄😊😚😇
This song was from a special year 1959. Wilbert Harrison performs this perfect for a very special place : Kansas City, Missouri the home of the Kansas City Strip Steak and the famous Kansas City Barbecue Festival. Plus, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals! Wow! A Great American City!
FROM KC!!!! I PLAY THIS SONG EVERYWHERE I GO. MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER RAN A GOODWILL STORE AT 12TH AND VINE IN THE 20 'S OR 30'S. WILBERT HARRISON ROCKS FOREVER!!!!!!!!! " GO CHIEFS"
My great great uncle wrote this song in Oklahoma. Ivey McLain. He was blind and still wrote and recorded. He was excited about what he was doing. And of course. People coming through towns stole from the poor and blind.
30 years ago my husband heard this song as he was on a bus headings to Kansas city. He took the song literally, he got one just like the song said. My song is boy from new York city because he is from new York. 30 years going strong & counting on many more.
I first heard this in 7th grade, back in the early 70s, instantly hooked! That JUMP! Years later a coworker (KC Kansas native) came back from vacation saying he heard this while at the airport and was floored by it - and I was floored he had never heard it before!
Over the decades, I can think of no other song that has suffered so much abuse as this one.Those who have 'reinterpeted' it thru speeding it up, adding chords to it that don't belong, adding breaks, shredding solos etc IMO have totally disrespected the simple charm that made the tune what it was meant to be. It's at least gratifying that the 161 who posted these other comments showed the appreciation that this original version deserves.
Yes he was and a great talent, only wish I was around in those days wasn't even thought of back in 59 my parents were 8 lol I am 33 now and I enjoy all the oldies music its great to see some live like this from back then . Must of been some time living back then, today ehhh can have the technology I will take the respect and class of the old days.
One of my earliest memories that I remember from 1978/1979 when I was 3 years old is my parents had a compilation record album with this song on it and I used to listen to it all the time. I loved this song back then, and I still love it now. By the way, I now have that same record album in my possession all these years later.
Kelvin Harrison yes kelin harrison thankyou for posting history, yrs. ago a jazz expert,my friend told me........that your uncle Wibert changed the lyrics from...''they got some crazy women there and i'm gonna get me one''.......where as the lyric before, was '' am gonna get me some''.....so for me as a teen, it was a big difference and speaks to your uncles beliefs/manhood. lastly kelvin i was told this is jimmy spraylin guitar,loosened strings/revolutionary], ''no one played like spraylin[sp] ''...........only the best, keep groovin'/rocking/jazzin' grandpa richard
Good 1959 clip--thanks for the post. I never knew anything about Wilbert Harrison, sorry he passed at only 65. Harrison's take is far better than the cover performed by the Beatles.
Cathy Krager Although Leiber and Stoller were the original authors of this song (which this version is), the song was completely reworked and rewritten by Little Richard. The Beatles version is taken from Little Richard's version. Really, it's a different song.
Big hit that became a classic! I still like this song! And what a different world it was then! Teenagers just wanted to have fun! And groove to music! They didn’t and couldn’t load up on Weapons and go shoot up their local Schools like they do now! That madness never occurred to them then! They didn’t think about killing people. That’s how sick our Society has become! Think about it. It’s very disturbing and sad! No one back then could have imagined the madness going on now!
Parsonite Musicfan You really think those white kids who applauded Wilbert wanted to hang him ...you are so far off base and like so many today you have an unhealthy obsession with racism while people back then we're beginning to address and recognize it as a problem they had lives too and for the most part much better than today's disfunctional society
Shin Obi.- Well, I think they still did have quite a number of lynchings back then.- Segregated public life everywhere.- That doesn't sound that innocent to me.-
Ox man,why would you wanna be alive around the time this song was released.. Do realize how many medical issues could not be cured back then as compared to now?
one of my favorites from the early sixties and my parents loved this one too, i guess it was one of their favorites first then i just loved it ever since.
LOL IKR?! I was raised in California, but my family is from Appalachia (West Virginia, although, I guess this was before the Civil War, so just Virginia then). "Gee mom, great great grandpa and grandma sure look alike in these pictures...Oh. Because they were first cousins. Ok, then." Also, wasn't Jerry Lee Lewis big then? Or was this a little before his marriage to his 14 year old cousin?
A time machine! This group of youngsters I would go get them and bring them to May 17, 2019. To see how different it is to their time-----WOW! And let all take one item from their future home. Any item they want, it is all for them.
Wilbert Harrison died on my fourth birthday and died while living in the nursing home that my maternal grandmother and three of her sisters would later become residents of.
Dick Clark did do a lot to get Black performers on his show and help them be successful in a time (Late 1950s) when schools were still segregated and racial equality had not progressed. He made Chubby Checker a star; Clark supposedly did own a piece of the record company that pressed "The Twist". Sadly it seems Dick's Beech Nut and American Bandstand shows had audiences that did not represent the diversity of the two cities they originated from: New York City and Philadelphia. Many online histories for those shows indicate Clark was worried about ABC affiliates around the country not carrying his shows if it had a more diverse audience.
I lived in Kansas city back in the mid 1970s....however...I wonder if those 4 gals who got their few seconds of video fame are around today...that one on the end,the one waiting for the camera to show her and then a astonished...excited smile and then the two foxy girls,man that last one looked like a devil in waiting for the right man to grab.So are you gals in here 56 yrs later on 2015 05 30 ...thanks
years ago, in the 1980s i made a trip to Kansas City. On my way to my destination, I asked the cab driver if he would take me to 12th street and vine and he said "Oh... you don't want to go down there!"
Well son maybe you never heard of Hank Ballard the real writer of The Twist who actually did a SUPERIOR Version to even Wilbur’s Original 45 RPM Version. Do some google research kiddo.
a class act for sure. That is one thing that really stands out in this performance of how dignified he performed. I like Chuck Berry, but honestly I never liked seeing him do the splits and sit straddle of his guitar; I would think how vulgar can you get. This guy Wilbert Harrison was a real class act.
![Wilbert Harrison • “Kansas City/Stagger Lee” • 1964 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1K4HnPvvzSc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Wilbert Harrison • “Kansas City/Stagger Lee” • 1964 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]](/img/tr.png)
I'm 20 years old and I'm a sucker for this music. I've been listening to it since I was little. It keeps coming up in my head.
I'm a trucker and am in Kansas City dropping a load of train wheels. Everytime I come to Kansas City, this song comes to mind. I'm 58 years old, and love all kinds of music from the 50's to today.
Did you Drive your Big Rig to 12th street & vine ?🚛🍺
I bet the wheels were for Griffin wheel?
I was like that going through Texas. Had to listen to Trent Willmon's, All Day Long.
I was 16 in 1959 this song was one of my favorites very easy to dance to besides it had a great beat!
I was 10 and still remember it. Loved it.
I think this song is highly UNDER-RATED.....it's blues, Country and Rock combined...fabulous dance song....and this guy nails it.......
And while several local singers around my area (including me) have covered this song, nobody does it "right" to my taste, "right" being something like Harrison's version. I'm still trying to get closer to getting the Jimmy Spruell Telecaster guitar solo down, too. It takes some patience and restraint and staying on the beat. Thanks for posting this, Wilbert looks great!
...I come back and listen to this occasionally.....this is like Bob Beamon's 29 ft Long Jump...it can't be outdone...in 60 years...it has not been beaten....The guy casually walks out on stage....and does a World Class version before a nation- wide audience....
Hardly underrated. One
Could he have had less energy, no showman ship.
@@LonskiBig first time I heard him sing this I fell in love with this version. I have heard it many times sung by others, but this version surely is my favorite out of all others.
I Actually Went To Kansas City When I Was In The US Just To "Stand on the Corner of 12th Street and Vine!"
It is my all time favourite 50'sTrack!
Take me to Arrowhead Stadium
Too bad they don't cross since you'd be in the middle of a park.
Yep that's on my Bucket list ,But I've read in the comments section that it no longer exist 😠 Due to Urban renewal 😫
what country are you from? how about 'I Only Have Eyes for You?' also in 59'
@@UncleSam13 Poetic License. Although the authors of the song had never been to Kansas City before, that location at that time was a notorious pickup spot for sporting ladies. The park is still shady and hosts various activities of dubious legality. So standing at the projected corner of 12th and Vine will still getcha some.
I am from KC and was 8 years old when that song broke. We sang it for years there. We couldn't believe they were actually singing about us!!
What'd I Say by Ray Charles, Lonely Teardrops by Jackie Wilson, and Kansas City by Wilbert Harrison. 1959 was a great year!
Elvis in the army, Chuck Berry arrested. Miles Davis, though, woo! Kind of Blue!
You forgot "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells
I Got Stung by Elvis.
@@veronicaharris8950 '68 not '59
Also:
• Come Softly to Me by The Fleetwoods
• Venus by Frankie Avalon
• I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos
• Since I Don’t Have You by The Skyliners
I was 13 years old when I first heard this song 🎵. Such good memories of the 50's and 60's I just wish I could go back in time. So much fun with my friends. 🙂😄😊😚😇
Just One of The Very Best hit singles of 1959 as it sounds so fantastic even nowadays
Fun fact this is the first version
ua-cam.com/video/1lCa-xXikBc/v-deo.html
Kansas City is one of my favorite song of all-time and this version will always be the best one.
I like listening to this on drives. Makes me feel like I'm going on a big adventure!
This song was from a special year 1959. Wilbert Harrison performs this perfect for a very special place : Kansas City, Missouri the home of the Kansas City Strip Steak and the famous Kansas City Barbecue Festival. Plus, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals! Wow! A Great American City!
One of my first favorite songs. Wilbert Harrison had a voice and style you don't forget.
Steven Garcia
Kansas city is out of
Cite. Right on. Great
Music daddy o.
Here in 2019..... Song is awesome
FROM KC!!!! I PLAY THIS SONG EVERYWHERE I GO. MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER RAN A GOODWILL STORE AT 12TH AND VINE IN THE 20 'S OR 30'S. WILBERT HARRISON ROCKS FOREVER!!!!!!!!! " GO CHIEFS"
All time favorite song to hear whilst roller skating at the local roller rink. Best shuffle song/ shuffle beat ever made....period!
It's 2024 Chiefs just won second Super bowl in a row. Thought about this song made 2 y before my birth🎉 Congratulations 🎊
My great great uncle wrote this song in Oklahoma. Ivey McLain. He was blind and still wrote and recorded. He was excited about what he was doing. And of course. People coming through towns stole from the poor and blind.
In 1966 I was 6 years old and I used to sing the song word for word one of my favorites
Absolutely brilliant! One of my favourites. Great performance, Wilbert.
what a great voice this guy had
Awesome! How wonderful to see an American Bandstand relic from 1959! Just to get got up in the styles and zeitgeist of the time!
This was 1 of my late dad's favorite songs from when he was 22.
This was my grandfather's favorite song
30 years ago my husband heard this song as he was on a bus headings to Kansas city. He took the song literally, he got one just like the song said. My song is boy from new York city because he is from new York. 30 years going strong & counting on many more.
An unsung hero of r&b. Canned Heat and Bryan Ferry owe him a debt of gratitude. RIP Wilbert.
LOVE this song. A classic.
Love the warmth of this great song. Classic. Songs of this caliber should start coming out again nowadays.
Absolutely a brilliant song. No doubt Kansas City was and still is very proud of this song.
I first heard this in 7th grade, back in the early 70s, instantly hooked! That JUMP! Years later a coworker (KC Kansas native) came back from vacation saying he heard this while at the airport and was floored by it - and I was floored he had never heard it before!
This was such a feel good song back in the day !!
One of the best records of 1959 & one of the best Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller compositions of the rock & roll era
Great song! Still rocks! His voice is perfect for this!
Number 1 record for the great Wilbert Harrison on the R&B and Pop Charts
I loved this song when it first came out and I still love it today!2023!
It’s 9/10/24 in Austin, Tx! Great song! I’m 75 and still rockin to the oldies today…..🥳🎶
Over the decades, I can think of no other song that has suffered so much abuse as this one.Those who have 'reinterpeted' it thru speeding it up, adding chords to it that don't belong, adding breaks, shredding solos etc IMO have totally disrespected the simple charm that made the tune what it was meant to be. It's at least gratifying that the 161 who posted these other comments showed the appreciation that this original version deserves.
all of what you say is called development/modernisation......without it no Elvis, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and R'n'R in general.
The Beatles are unfortunately guilty of this. They had a cover of it on Beatles for Sale that’s unfortunately noticeably worse than the original.
Thank u for this I miss my uncle he was amazing
Yes he was and a great talent, only wish I was around in those days wasn't even thought of back in 59 my parents were 8 lol I am 33 now and I enjoy all the oldies music its great to see some live like this from back then . Must of been some time living back then, today ehhh can have the technology I will take the respect and class of the old days.
And I left Chicago for Kansas City in June of 1959, great hit...
My uncle was the best
One of my earliest memories that I remember from 1978/1979 when I was 3 years old is my parents had a compilation record album with this song on it and I used to listen to it all the time. I loved this song back then, and I still love it now. By the way, I now have that same record album in my possession all these years later.
Kelvin Harrison yes kelin harrison thankyou for posting history, yrs. ago a jazz expert,my friend told me........that your uncle Wibert changed the lyrics from...''they got some crazy women there and i'm gonna get me one''.......where as the lyric before, was '' am gonna get me some''.....so for me as a teen, it was a big difference and speaks to your uncles beliefs/manhood. lastly kelvin i was told this is jimmy spraylin guitar,loosened strings/revolutionary], ''no one played like spraylin[sp] ''...........only the best, keep groovin'/rocking/jazzin' grandpa richard
I love this song, and how the "kids" back in the day were polite and respectful!
Probably forced to, let’s be honest
Nobody does this song like Wilbert. He nails it!
Perfect
Such a handsome guy! Mr. Harrison is😆
Yes ❤️😩
he was handsome and classy
this guy does the best version of Kansas city........imo
What Great Music,thankyou for sharing,2020.
You gotta miss this stuff!!
Wilbert Harrison is an underrated entertainer. I was 7 when this song was a hit but learned to love it later.
my favorite version
This song came out the year I was born what a jem!!
Loved those days. I am 81 years old now. Please take me back.
Hang in there old timer, I'm 72yrs old and I'm still listening to this song......
As a 17 year old, I never lived those days, but I love them anyway.
John Gould I hear you John....would love to go back with you and all who loved the good old days !!! ❤️❤️
Nobody sings this song better than Wilbert Harrison.
Very cool to have watched this archived footage.
Good 1959 clip--thanks for the post. I never knew anything about Wilbert Harrison, sorry he passed at only 65. Harrison's take is far better than the cover performed by the Beatles.
helios1912 The song "Kansas City" that The Beatles recorded is a completely different song than this one. Same title, that's all.
Thanks Michael. Good to know now.
Same words but faster beat by The Beatles.
Cathy Krager Although Leiber and Stoller were the original authors of this song (which this version is), the song was completely reworked and rewritten by Little Richard. The Beatles version is taken from Little Richard's version. Really, it's a different song.
All Little Richard did was add the Hey Hey Hey part. Even the Wilbur Harrison version had changed words.
"He's my cousin." That made me laugh so hard
I am running into a lot on his videos who say they are related to him. He must have had a huge family.
Most 50s underrated song....A masterpiece!!!
Big hit that became a classic! I still like this song! And what a different world it was then! Teenagers just wanted to have fun! And groove to music! They didn’t and couldn’t load up on Weapons and go shoot up their local Schools like they do now! That madness never occurred to them then! They didn’t think about killing people. That’s how sick our Society has become! Think about it. It’s very disturbing and sad! No one back then could have imagined the madness going on now!
Also dance many times to this song, oh boy was it ever fin....
Makes u tap a foot great music never dies it makes u come alive
Lol those days seemed so innocent compared to these days :(
+Shin Obi .... Dear Shin: They Actually WERE More Innocent !!! jkulik919@gmail.com
they were
liberalism is what happened to America
Parsonite Musicfan You really think those white kids who applauded Wilbert wanted to hang him ...you are so far off base and like so many today you have an unhealthy obsession with racism while people back then we're beginning to address and recognize it as a problem they had lives too and for the most part much better than today's disfunctional society
Shin Obi.- Well, I think they still did have quite a number of lynchings back then.- Segregated public life everywhere.- That doesn't sound that innocent to me.-
I wish I was alive in these times
+ox man - We didn't appreciate it as much then as we do now. I can't imagine kids saying that about today in 50 years. But who knows?
Ox man,why would you wanna be alive around the time this song was released.. Do realize how many medical issues could not be cured back then as compared to now?
I was alive in 1959 Only 2 years old though 😄 this music is really cool !😺
Loved,this one for so many years,now!! Easy,to dance too!
Its true it was recorded so many times, but this just connected.
This song was #1 on the month and yr I was born..
Bandstand on every day after school.i never missed it.
i miss it too
one of my favorites from the early sixties and my parents loved this one too, i guess it was one of their favorites first then i just loved it ever since.
Not 196os it was 1950s and great
Ha, ha... "He's your cousin -- hardly a romantic interest then." It's easy to see Dick Clark was a Northern boy.
HAHAHA!
LOL
IKR?! I was raised in California, but my family is from Appalachia (West Virginia, although, I guess this was before the Civil War, so just Virginia then). "Gee mom, great great grandpa and grandma sure look alike in these pictures...Oh. Because they were first cousins. Ok, then."
Also, wasn't Jerry Lee Lewis big then? Or was this a little before his marriage to his 14 year old cousin?
A year after. Jerry Lee was more or less banned from big gigs and radio playlists at this time.
A time machine! This group of youngsters I would go get them and bring them to May 17, 2019. To see how different it is to their time-----WOW! And let all take one item from their future home. Any item they want, it is all for them.
One of the greatest 'Unknowns' ever, check out his other great singles/L.P.'s! Imagine, this guy was in C.C.R.'s program in ASmsterdam..
What a driving beat. Always loved his verion the best.
This one represents music when it was at its best! 50's rock!
May 1959 He is from my home state of North Carolina city of Charlotte.
11 years old when this song came out loved it from the very first beat. Use to drive a lot and sang it always.
I love this rendition out of all of them! I lived in KC (suburb) 20 years ago. I'm going to Kansas City, here I come!! 💘🏈⚾🌇 🕶🎷🥩 ❤🔥💖
Wilbert Harrison died on my fourth birthday and died while living in the nursing home that my maternal grandmother and three of her sisters would later become residents of.
BOY! THOSE WERE SOME CRAZY LITTLE WOMEN THERE IN THAT AUDIENCE! They were totally OUT OF CONTROL! LMAO!
+Adult Hybrid Child of Extraterrestrials They should have known how out of control the crowd would get and beefed up security
You have no idea how big this song was.
#1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959, written by the legendary songwriting duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Great tune.
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Summer '59 between 6th and 7th grade. Not a care in the world!
Wasn’t it great ?? loved every minute I was young and all the great wonderful music !! Oh to be able to hit rewind !!!!
One of my favorite songs.
Hail from AustriA
Who misses 1959?!!!☺️
One of the biggest selling singles of 1959 Called Kansas City By Wilbert Harrison a top disc for him in 1959
If we are in here watching a vid and listening to a song that is 60 years old, yeah, its a good one.
Dick Clark did do a lot to get Black performers on his show and help them be successful in a time (Late 1950s) when schools were still segregated and racial equality had not progressed. He made Chubby Checker a star; Clark supposedly did own a piece of the record company that pressed "The Twist". Sadly it seems Dick's Beech Nut and American Bandstand shows had audiences that did not represent the diversity of the two cities they originated from: New York City and Philadelphia. Many online histories for those shows indicate Clark was worried about ABC affiliates around the country not carrying his shows if it had a more diverse audience.
I lived in Kansas city back in the mid 1970s....however...I wonder if those 4 gals who got their few seconds of video fame are around today...that one on the end,the one waiting for the camera to show her and then a astonished...excited smile and then the two foxy girls,man that last one looked like a devil in waiting for the right man to grab.So are you gals in here 56 yrs later on 2015 05 30 ...thanks
Boss sound every state in the Union. Sing it Wilbur A+ from The Retired Professor in CA you heard Kansas City.
awesome performance. I love this song
years ago, in the 1980s i made a trip to Kansas City. On my way to my destination, I asked the cab driver if he would take me to 12th street and vine and he said "Oh... you don't want to go down there!"
Wish i could've been born in this era let's build a time machine and take a trip back to the 50s
i was a teenager in 50's, wouldn't trade for anything
This music puts a big smile on my face 😊
nobody does this song better
Well son maybe you never heard of Hank Ballard the real writer of The Twist who actually did a SUPERIOR Version to even Wilbur’s Original 45 RPM Version. Do some google research kiddo.
It is so nice to see how dignified the intertainers were then. Now they are sooo vulgar.
That is exactly what came to mind, your so right.
not everyone
Yes, let the talent do the talking
a class act for sure. That is one thing that really stands out in this performance of how dignified he performed. I like Chuck Berry, but honestly I never liked seeing him do the splits and sit straddle of his guitar; I would think how vulgar can you get. This guy Wilbert Harrison was a real class act.
Great song,my dad love this song.lol
Our favorite 'stroll' song..........
in my book, one of the top 3 RR songs of al time..
He has that Clark Gable/Cab Calloway look 😊🖒
The Kansas City Chiefs are football champions once again.
I'm a Pats fan but congrats. You've waited a long time.
Furry67 mhm hmh don’t play us
Patrick Mahomes $450 million dollars until 2031
And he wrote many songs. But famous for this one.
Wow I wish I was born when my mom was.
Me encanta esta cancion en especial para bailar
Cool Hair!
suits and ties...what a time that was!
You must have visited many years ago. Fortunately, that same area is now a revitalized part of downtown. Hope you come back for a welcomed visit.
I wish the 50s can come back
Didja notice Wilbert is snapping his finger on 2 & 4 while the audience claps on 1 & 3?