There’s something about Kansas City’s Wild West legacy, faraway “home on the range” setting, and jazz-Mecca mystique that inspires songwriters.
Doleful cowboy and country songs, jumping jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll music, and melodic show tunes such as “Oklahoma’s “(Everything’s Up to Date in) Kansas City celebrate Kansas City’s song-and-dance hub heritage.
In Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy classic of the American West, Slim Pickens’ character berates 1870s-era laborers who’ve broken into an impromptu, wildly anachronistic jazz number. Pickens says: “I hired you people to try to get a little track laid, not to jump around like a bunch of Kansas City faggots.”
Following are some the most famous songs written about Kansas City, though none of these were composed by Kansas Citians.
1. “Kansas City.” The most famous song about KC, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s 1952 rhythm-and-blues shuffle standard, “Kansas City,” a hipster’s reverie about black culture and rhythm and blues, cemented Kansas City's R&B legend. This song has been recorded by Wilbert Harrison, The Beatles, Little Richard, James Brown, David Bromberg, and many others.
2. “(Everything’s up to date in) Kansas City.” From Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 Broadway musical Oklahoma! (which takes place in1906), the song includes the lyrics: “Everything’s up to date in Kansas City, They gone about as fer as they can go; They went an’ built a skyscraper seven stories high, About as high as a buildin’ orta grow.”
3. “Kansas City Blues.” Jim Jackson’s 1927 hit “Kansas City Blues" influenced Hank Williams’ 1947 hit “Move It On Over,” which in turn influenced Bill Halley’s 1955 hit “Rock Around The Clock.” “Kansas City Blues” contains the line “It takes a rocking chair to rock, a rubber ball to roll...” and is often referenced as one of the first rock and roll records.
4. “Kitty from Kansas City.” Largely forgotten now, but popular in its day, this1930 song was sung by French Vermont singer Rudy Vallée. The song is about a Midwestern girl named Kitty and her apparent lack of intelligence, and obesity, due to a lyric: “She wasn't hard to see; she weighed 243.” The song was also made in an animated movie short released on October 31, 1931. Directed and produced by Dave and Max Fleischer (who also made “Popeye” and “Betty Boop”), the short includes an early (almost identical) version of Betty Boop.
5. “Kansas City Star.” This 1965 top-10 country hit was written and performed by Roger Miller, who also wrote “King of the Road.” “Kansas City Star” is about a local television rhinestone cowboy personality who would rather stay in the safety and security of his success in Kansas City than try to become a bigger star—or risk failure—in Omaha.
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