"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.

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 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)

The song was planned as the promotional single for the unissued 1985 album Sessions, which like the later Anthology series was to include previously unreleased Beatles material.

Personnel

* John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar
* Paul McCartney – bass, piano
* George Harrison – lead guitar
* Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine

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 o