B-side "Let Nobody Love You" Format 7" Length 2:32 | Released June 1959 Genre Soul Label King 5219 | |
"Leave My Kitten Alone" is a 1959 R&B hit, written by Little Willie John, Titus Turner and James McDougal, first recorded by Little Willie John, and covered in 1960 by Johnny Preston. The song is also the 22nd song on the second disc to the Beatles' Anthology 1. The song follows the 24-bar blues format.
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Little Willie John and Johnny Preston
The original version of the song, by Little Willie John, on King Records, reached #13 on the Billboard R&B chart and # 60 on the pop chart on its first release in 1959. The cover version by Johnny Preston reached #73 on the pop chart in early 1961, at which point the Little Willie John version was re-issued and again rose to #60. Neither version reached the UK Singles Chart.
Over the intervening decades, numerous covers have been recorded, in different musical genres, sometimes with altered lyrics, by artists including Solomon Burke, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, Roky Erickson, The Syndicats featuring Steve Howe, The Sonics, et al.
The Beatles
On August 14, 1964, during the recording sessions for Beatles for Sale, The Beatles recorded five takes of "Leave My Kitten Alone", adding overdubs to the last take. The song was never mixed and was not included on Beatles for Sale. Take 5 was marked as the best take (only takes 4 and 5 exist, 4 being a false start).
The song was remixed in 1982 by the late John Barrett in preparation for The Beatles at Abbey Road, a video presentation shown as part of a public tour of the Abbey Road Studios the following year.(RM '82). The song was again remixed in 1984 by Geoff Emerick in preparation for inclusion on the unreleased Sessions project (RM/RS '84). In 1994 George Martin remixed the song yet again, this time for the Anthology project (RM/RS '94); it finally saw official release on the project's first volume the following year.
The First Gear
While the public was not to hear The Beatles version of this song for many years, another famous 'British Beat' version of this song was released November 1964 as the b-side of the "A Certain Girl" single (Parlophone) by The First Gear, both sides of the single being produced and played on by Jimmy Page, who graced both songs with memorable guitar solos.
The Detroit Cobras
In 2007 the all-girl group The Detroit Cobras recorded a version of the song for their album Tied & True.
Elvis Costello
While finishing his album King of America, singer-songwriter Elvis Costello recorded demos for this and several other songs, such as "Blue Chair" and "American Without Tears." During his 1986 work on Blood & Chocolate, Costello recorded a version of this song, though it was not used for that album. It would later appear on his Kojak Variety album, a collection of 50s and 60s rock and roll standards.