Leave My Kitten Alone

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Leave My Kitten Alone” is a 1959 R&B hit, written by Little Willie John, James McDougal and Titus Turner, 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.

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 the # 60 position. 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. […]

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

• [a] mock stereo Jul 1984 at AIR Studios, Montserrat.
  CD: Apple CDP 8 34445 2 Anthology 1 1995.

This unreleased song was on the list for a proposed album in 1981, proposed for a Christmas single in 1982, included in the Abbey Road Studio show in 1983, and mixed for the unreleased Sessions album in 1984.

The mix is mock stereo made from 4 track! The treble end of the rhythm track, essentially the tambourine sound, was enhanced and is heard thrown rapidly between far left and far right, while the rest of that track, and all of the other three, are heard mixed into the center.

Last updated on December 3, 2016

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