About The Song
“The Kansas City Song” is both a Buck Owens single and the title track of his 1970 Capitol album. Written by Owens with fellow Bakersfield figure Red Simpson, it was released as a single in mid-1970 on Capitol with “Bring Back My Peace of Mind” on the B-side. Label and chart summaries list its U.S. release date as early July 1970, and show the song reaching No. 2 on Billboard’s country singles chart and No. 6 on the Canadian country chart. It arrived during a period when Owens was still a dominant presence on country radio at the end of the 1960s and start of the 1970s.
The parent LP The Kansas City Song was issued by Capitol in July 1970, credited to Buck Owens and His Buckaroos. The ten-track album runs just over twenty-five minutes and, according to reissue notes, all of its songs were written or co-written by Owens. It was recorded at Buck Owens Studios in Bakersfield, California, and produced in the same straightforward style as his earlier Capitol work. On the charts, the record gave Owens another Top 10 entry on the U.S. country albums listing, confirming that he remained a major album artist as well as a singles act at the dawn of the new decade.
This project is often described as Owens’ first full “city” album. Earlier in his career he had focused on honky-tonks, broken hearts and rural imagery, but here he anchored an entire LP in place-names and urban settings. The title track’s success effectively launched a short run of city-centered material that continued later in 1970 with the album I Wouldn’t Live in New York City (If They Gave Me the Whole Dang Town). Contemporary and later catalogue notes link the two records together, treating The Kansas City Song as the starting point for that theme.
The words of “The Kansas City Song” read like a postcard and a promise rolled into one. The narrator addresses someone back home while he is away, daydreaming about Kansas City and picturing the streets, lights and atmosphere of the town that has captured his imagination. The song frames the city as a place of opportunity and excitement, full of music and movement, while also hinting at the distance and homesickness that come with chasing that dream. Rather than telling a complex story, it stays with a simple declaration of affection for the city and a determination to get back there.
In sound, “The Kansas City Song” sits firmly in the Bakersfield tradition that made Owens famous. The track moves at a relaxed mid-tempo with a clear backbeat, electric bass and bright lead guitar lines, supported by steel guitar and Buckaroos harmony vocals. The arrangement is lean and direct: no string sections, no heavy overdubs, just a tight road band recorded cleanly in the studio. AllMusic and later reissues group the album under styles like Bakersfield sound, traditional country and honky-tonk, and the title track fits that description well, pairing a travel-song theme with the punchy West Coast country groove that had defined Owens’ work through the 1960s.
Over time, “The Kansas City Song” has remained an important part of Buck Owens’ 1970s catalogue. The single continues to appear on hits compilations and digital playlists, and the album has been reissued on CD and streaming services by labels such as Omnivore Recordings and Bear Family, using the original track sequence and artwork. Reissue blurbs call it a “declaration of love to Kansas City” and highlight the title cut’s No. 2 country-chart peak. For listeners exploring Owens beyond his 1960s smashes like “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” or “Act Naturally,” this track and album offer a concise snapshot of how he carried the Bakersfield sound into the new decade while experimenting with place-based themes.
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Lyric
For two long weeks you’re goin’ to Kansas City
And I’m a sure I’m gonna miss you while you’re gone
This ol’ town will seem to die without you
But it sure will come to life when you come homeSo take care of you for me in Kansas City
And honey, call me every now and then
Take care of you for me in Kansas City
‘Cause I’ll miss you till you’re in my arms againNow honey, watch those Kansas City Romeos
And don’t let them fool you with their charms
Have a lot of fun but remember that I love you
And I’m a waiting here with my two open armsSo take care of you for me in Kansas City
And honey, call me every now and then
Take care of you for me in Kansas City
‘Cause I’ll miss you till you’re in my arms againNow I ain’t never been to Kansas City
But I’ve heard stories about the girls that’s gone
So if you just gotta go to Kansas City
Take your time a gettin’ there, but hurry homeAnd so take care of you for me in Kansas City
And honey, call me every now and then
Take care of you for me in Kansas City
‘Cause I’ll miss you till you’re in my arms againYes, I’ll miss you till you’re in my arms again