{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2011}} {{Infobox song | name = Leave My Kitten Alone | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = [[Little Willie John]] | B-side = Let Nobody Love You | released = {{Start date|1959|06}} | recorded = | studio = | genre = [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] | length = 2:32 | label = [[King Records (USA)|King]] | writer = [[Little Willie John]], [[Titus Turner]], James McDougal | producer = | prev_title = Made for Me | prev_year = 1959 | next_title = Let Them Talk | next_year = 1959 }}
"'''Leave My Kitten Alone'''" is a song written by [[Little Willie John]], [[Titus Turner]], and James McDougal, first recorded by Little Willie John and released in 1959 as a [[Single (music)|single]] through [[King Records (USA)|King Records]]. It is an [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] song that follows a [[Twelve-bar blues|24-bar blues]] format.
==Little Willie John== The original version of the song, by Little Willie John, on [[King Records (USA)|King Records]], reached No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' [[R&B chart]] and No. 60 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|pop chart]] on its first release in 1959.<ref name=whitburn>Joel Whitburn, ''Top Pop Singles 1955-2002'', Billboard, 2003, {{ISBN|0-89820-155-1}}, p. 362</ref><ref name="whitburnr&b">{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=228}}</ref> A second release again reached No. 60, after cover version by [[Johnny Preston]] reached No. 73 on the singles chart in early 1961.<ref name="whitburn"/> Over the intervening decades, numerous covers have been recorded, in different musical genres, sometimes with altered lyrics.
==The Beatles== An early version by [[the Beatles]] was released in 1995 on ''[[Anthology 1]]''.<ref name="anthology1p43">{{cite AV media notes |title=Anthology 2 |title-link=Anthology 2 |year=1994 |others=[[The Beatles]] |type=booklet |publisher=[[Apple Records]] |location=London |id=34445 |page=43}}</ref> 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.<ref name="anthology1p43"/> The song was never mixed and was not included on ''Beatles for Sale''.<ref name="lewisohn1p48">{{cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |author-link=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York City|isbn=0-517-57066-1}}</ref>
The song was remixed in 1982 by 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. It was again remixed in 1984 by [[Geoff Emerick]] in preparation for inclusion on the unreleased ''[[Sessions (The Beatles album)|Sessions]]'' project. In 1994, Emerick remixed the song yet again, this time for the ''[[The Beatles Anthology|Anthology]]'' project; it finally saw official release on the project's [[Anthology 1|first volume]] the following year.
==Other covers== [[Elvis Costello]] and [[the Attractions]] recorded a cover of "Leave My Kitten Alone" in 1986 during the sessions for ''[[Blood & Chocolate]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomson |first=Graeme |year=2004 |title=Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello |location=Edinburgh |publisher=[[Canongate Books]] |isbn=978-1-84195-796-8 |pages=233–236}}</ref> It was left off the album; Costello latter included a quieter version of the song on his 1995 solo album ''[[Kojak Variety]]''. This version was released half a year before the Beatles released their version and seven years before Costello's version with the Attractions was released on the 2002 [[Rhino Records]] reissue of ''Blood and Chocolate''. In a review for the reissue, Kent Benjamin of ''[[Goldmine (magazine)|Goldmine]]'' referred to Costello's rendition as one of his best covers and "finest rockers".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Benjamin |first=Kent |title=Elvis Costello: "This Year's Model"; "Blood and Chocolate"; "Brutal Youth" |journal=[[Goldmine (magazine)|Goldmine]] |volume=28 |issue=11 |page=76 |date=31 May 2002 |issn=1055-2685 |id={{ProQuest|1495601}}}}</ref> It was also praised by [[AllMusic]]'s [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/blood-chocolate-rhino-bonus-disc--mr0000279672 |title=''Blood & Chocolate'' [Rhino Bonus Disc] – Elvis Costello & the Attractions / Elvis Costello |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=21 November 2023 |archive-date=25 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225083040/https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/blood-chocolate-rhino-bonus-disc--mr0000279672 |url-status=live }}</ref> Costello himself admitted in the 2002 reissue's liner notes that it should have been included in the original album.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |last=Costello |first=Elvis |title=Blood & Chocolate (reissue) |others=Elvis Costello and the Attractions |year=2002 |publisher=Rhino Records |location=US |type=CD liner notes |id=R2 78355}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Beatles for Sale}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1959 songs]] [[Category:1959 singles]] [[Category:1961 singles]] [[Category:Songs written by Titus Turner]] [[Category:The Beatles songs]] [[Category:Little Willie John songs]] [[Category:Johnny Preston songs]] [[Category:King Records (United States) singles]] [[Category:Mercury Records singles]] [[Category:Elvis Costello songs]]