The Beatles

Released: December 4, 1964

Songwriter: Little Richard Mike Stoller Jerry Leiber

Producer: George Martin

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
Ah, Kansas City
Going to get my baby back home
Yeah, yeah
I'm going to Kansas City
Going to get my baby back home
Yeah, yeah
Well, it's a long, long, time
Since my baby's been gone

[Verse 2]
Ah, Kansas City
Going to to get my baby one time
Yeah, yeah
I'm going to Kansas City
Going to get my baby one time
Yeah, yeah
It's just a one, two, three, four
Five, six, seven, eight, nine, wah

[Chorus]
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, baby, woo no clown
I say you're no clown
Now, now, now, now
Tell me baby
What's been wrong with you

Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, now, baby, woo no clown
I say you're no clown
Now, now, now, now
Tell me baby
What's been wrong with you

[Outro]
Well, I'll say bye
Bye, bye, baby bye, bye
Oh, so long
Bye, bye, baby I'm gone
Yeah, I said
Bye, bye, baby, bye, bye
Bye, bye, bye, bye
Well, I'll say bye
Bye, bye, baby bye, bye
Woo, so long
Bye, bye, baby, I'm gone

The Beatles are arguably the most famous, critically-acclaimed, and successful rock band of all time—certainly the preeminent group of the 20th century. They started out as four teenagers playing grimy basement clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, but they progressed to become world-beating rock stars who are still influential to this day.

John Lennon first formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen in March 1957. A fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined shortly thereafter, eventually inviting his friend George Harrison to audition for the band. After finally impressing John with his guitar skills, George was asked to join—but this juncture would be short-lived as John’s departure to college signaled the other quarrymen to go their separate ways.

By 1960, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison had re-branded from ‘Johnny & the Moondogs’ to ‘The Silver Beetles’ at the behest of their new bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe. The name would eventually evolve into ‘The Silver Beatles’ by July of that year, before settling on ‘The Beatles’ come August—just in time for their trip to Hamburg with new drummer, Pete Best. Though club residencies in Germany would prove fundamental to the group’s progress as a whole, the tour turned out to be a blessing and a curse, following the deportation of a then-seventeen-year-old George Harrison, and the eventual tragic death of Stuart Sutcliffe.

more tracks from the album

The U.S. Albums

From the albums

Beatles for Sale (1964)
The Beatles Alpha Omega Vol. 2 (1973)
Rock ‘n’ Roll Music (1976)
Anthology 1 (1995)
The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 (2006)
The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) Boxset (2009)
Anthology Highlights (2011)
The U.S. Albums (2014)

The Beatles popular songs

Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!The Beatles

The Beatles

The U.S. Albums