Well, since I can't get an answer out of the group, I guess I'll have to
track it down on my own.

Here, untested, is a list from "Compiling Source Code I" at Mandrakeuser.org
(http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/basics/bsource.html).  It's referring to
compiling software in general, not the kernel specifically:

Needed Packages

Here's a checklist of packages you will need for compiling. Check with rpm
-q [name] if these are installed.
If you have a 1-CD version of ML, some of these might not be on that CD; in
this case get them via rpmfind.net.

Compiler
gcc 
glibc-devel 
gcc-c++ 
libstdc++-devel 
System
make 
kernel-headers 

Popular Libraries
There are libraries which are used very often by applications. Having their
development counterparts installed should get you through most compilations
without errors due to missing libraries. These development libraries are the
most popular with programmers. If you have them installed, you should get
through most compilations without errors due to missing libraries.

gtk+-devel, glib-devel (most common widget set) 
libgr-devel, libungif-devel, libjpeg-devel, libpng-devel, libtiff-devel,
xpm-devel (image formats) 
libtermcap-devel, ncurses-devel (for console applications) 
XFree86-devel (for all graphical applications) 
zlib-devel (compression library) 

If you are compiling programs for GNOME or KDE, you will need the '-devel-'
versions of their libraries. For KDE, you will also need 'qt2-devel'.