Looking for songs about Kansas City for a roadtrip - please help?

May 29, 2008 4:49 PM

My little brother just graduated from school in Indiana and is moving to Kansas City. (the Kansas side) He'll be driving there from the eastern side of Missouri and I want to make him a mix for the road but I'm coming up short on songs!

I've already got a few obvious ones but I can use your help filling out my list. I am open to ones about Kansas City, the state of Kansas, the state of Missouri, the midwest, road tripping, America in general, and maybe even graduating/starting out in the adult world. (in descending order of preference :) Serious songs, silly songs, any genre... it's wide open. The songs don't even need to be entirely about these things, if they just mention it, it is enough.

Any suggestions? thanks in advance. :)

posted by inatizzy to media & arts (12 comments total)

Does your brother enjoy live music? Perhaps make him a mixtape of Kansas City/Lawrence(the college town about an hour west of KC) bands. The Pitch music section (KC weekly entertainment paper). Lawrence.com (Lawrence entertainment site). This is a link to an mp3 that meets your criteria it's from a KC Hip-Hop group "Deep Thinkers" about living in KC.
posted by thylacine at 5:34 PM on May 29

Okkervil River- Kansas City
posted by hulahulagirl at 6:06 PM on May 29

My top picks:

The Train From Kansas City -- the Shangri-Las

The Train From Kansas City -- Neko Case

Then there's...

Fats Domino – Kansas City
Okkervil River – Kansas City
Albert King – Kansas City
Muddy Waters – Kansas City
From Autumn to Ashes – Kansas City 90210
James Brown – Kansas City
Joya Landis – Kansas city
Wanda Jackson – Kansas City
Wilbert Harrison – Kansas City
Brenda Lee – Kansas City
Paul McCartney – Kansas City
Willie Nelson – Kansas City
Bill Haley and the Comets – Kansas City
Sammy Davis, Jr. – Kansas City
Roger Miller – Kansas City Star
Leadbelly – Kansas City Papa
Merle Travis – Kansas City Blues
The Washdown – Kansas City
Jimmy Witherspoon – Kansas City
Carl Mann – Kansas City
Level 42 – Kansas City Milkman
David Bromberg – Kansas City
Tech N9ne – Kansas City King
Lou Rawls – Kansas City
Jelly Roll Morton – Kansas City Stomp
Little Richard – Kansas City
Track Listeners
Les Humphries Singers – Kansas City
Pinetop Perkins – Kansas City
Trini Lopez – Kansas City
Count Basie – Kansas City Shout
Raul Seixas – Kansas City
J Ralph – Kansas City Shuffle
The RH Factor – Kansas City Funk
Jackie-O Motherfucker – Kansas City Blues
Lonnie Johnson – Kansas City Man Blues
Okkervil River – Kansas City.
Shop Assistants – Train From Kansas City
Superchunk – Train From Kansas City
Roadside Monument – Kansas City
Peggy Lee – Kansas City
Cat Stevens – 18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)
Buck Owens – The Kansas City Song
Oklahoma! – Kansas City
Van Morrison – The Eternal Kansas City
Wayne Hancock – Kansas City Blues
The Beatles – Kansas City / Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey
Dillard & Clark – Kansas City Southern
Jay McShann – Kansas City
Count Basie – Kansas City
Janis Joplin – Kansas City Blues
Gene Clark – Kansas City Southern
Memphis Jug Band – Kansas City Blues

Lots, and I mean LOTS, more here
posted by unSane at 6:21 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]

Great road trip songs are always the ones that give you energy while you're driving, make you feel good, intensify the passion in your body and soul. My suggestions are artists' such as:
Santana (old school songs off his first 3 albums), Nat King Cole- Route 69, Blondie, Matchbox 20-How far we've come, Elvis- the one from the show Las Vegas...I wish I could recall the name but I'm having troubles...Any song that really pumps him up or you is always worth adding to a mix cd.
posted by eve28 at 6:34 PM on May 29

all Bottle Rockets, all the time......we'll be back after this word from our sponsor
posted by timsteil at 6:56 PM on May 29

The version of kansas city star by the replacements should certainly be included.
posted by destro at 7:30 PM on May 29

A lot of John (cougar) Mellencamp (If he goes to Indiana U), The Samples "Indiana".

Local radio. People are ALL about cds during road trips...but the best is listening to the radio. Never would I have heard of zydeco had I not physically fought off 4 people in the car while driving through louisiana. Try the radio.

Good luck.
posted by hal_c_on at 8:59 PM on May 29

This is the guy you want to ask.
posted by keith0718 at 9:18 PM on May 29

Be sure you to pick some songs from the band Kansas (e.g. Carry On Wayward Son, Point Of Know Return, Dust In The Wind - although Dust In The Wind might be too melancholy for road-trip music)
posted by amyms at 9:22 PM on May 29

There's a song by Garrison Starr called "Kansas City, KS".
Damnations TX have a song called "Kansas" as well.

And seconding the Bottle Rockets suggestion.
posted by whatideserve at 5:24 PM on June 1

Scott H. Biram--Been Down Too Long
Cowboy Junkies-- 200 More Miles
Talking Heads-- Cities
posted by hulahulagirl at 5:41 PM on June 2

Hello - There's quite afew tunes if I'm not too late in mentioning them

As the list above Indicates - Kansas City - Performed by a plethora of folks - any version is good including the Beatles

Kansas City Light's is also another good one by steve warner if he can tolerate country

Kansas City Southern by the pure prarie league is also good

Kansas City star by roger Miller is a cute song but carries an old country stigma to it

There's also a unique one called 'Every Step of The Way' by Steve Walsh the lead singer of the band Kansas that made the song Carry on wayward son. It's about his roots of growing up in atwon just across the missouri river from the state of Kansas. It's an 80's power band style of song. I'm partial to it, because Steve Walsh grew up here in my hometown.
posted by merdoc at 4:30 PM on August 16