Song written and composed by Ray Charles and Renald Richard
"
I Got a Woman
" (originally titled "
I've Got a Woman
")
[1]
[2]
is a song co-written and recorded by American
R&B
and
soul
musician
Ray Charles
.
Atlantic Records
released the song as a single in December 1954, with "
Come Back Baby
" as the B-side. Both songs later appeared on the 1957 album
Ray Charles
(subsequently reissued as
Hallelujah I Love Her So
).
Origin
[
edit
]
The song builds on "It Must Be Jesus" by the Southern Tones, which Ray Charles was listening to on the radio while on the road with his band in the summer of 1954, as well as a bridge inspired by
Big Bill Broonzy
's "Living on Easy Street". He and a member of his band, trumpeter Renald Richard, wrote a song that was built along a gospel-frenetic pace with secular lyrics and a jazz-inspired rhythm and blues (R&B) background. The song would be one of the
prototypes
for what later became termed as "soul music" after Charles released "
What'd I Say
" nearly five years later.
[3]
Charles version
[
edit
]
The song was recorded on November 18, 1954, in the
Atlanta
studios of Georgia Tech radio station
WGST
. It was a hit?Charles' first?climbing quickly to number one R&B in January 1955.
[4]
Charles told the
Pop Chronicles
that he performed this song for about a year before he recorded it.
[5]
The song would lead to more hits for Charles during this period when he was with
Atlantic
. It was later ranked No. 239 on
Rolling Stone
'
s list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
, one of Charles' five songs on the list.
[6]
A re-recorded version by Ray Charles, entitled "I Gotta Woman" (
ABC-Paramount
10649) reached No. 79 on the
Billboard
pop chart
in 1965.
[7]
In 1990, the 1954 recording of the song by
Ray Charles
on
Atlantic Records
was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame
.
[8]
Certifications
[
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]
Elvis Presley version
[
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]
Elvis Presley
recorded his versions of the song on January 10, 1956, at
RCA's studio
in Nashville, Tennessee.
[11]
The single did not chart, although it was a staple in most of Presley's shows during the 1950s and when he returned to perform live in 1969 all the way through 1977.
The Beatles versions
[
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]
The Beatles
recorded two versions of the song for
BBC
radio. The first version was recorded on 16 July 1963 at the BBC
Paris Theatre
in
London
for the
Pop Go the Beatles
radio show. This version was first released in 1994 on the
Live at the BBC
compilation.
The second version the band recorded was recorded on 31 March 1964 at the
Playhouse Theatre
in London for the
Saturday Club
radio show. This version was released in 2013 for the
On Air ? Live at the BBC Volume 2
compilation and is shorter than the
Live at the BBC
version.
[12]
Cover versions, references and samples
[
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]
Other versions that have made the pop or
R&B charts
in the US are those by
Jimmy McGriff
(#20 pop, #5 R&B, 1962),
Freddie Scott
(#48 pop, 1963), and
Ricky Nelson
(#49 pop, 1963).
[7]
The rock band
Dire Straits
mention the song in their song "
Walk of Life
", from their 1985 album
Brothers in Arms
at 2:44.
Kanye West
's song "
Gold Digger
" contains samples of "I Got a Woman"; one particular line is repeated throughout the song in the background. An
interpolation
by
Jamie Foxx
, who portrayed Charles in the 2004 biopic
Ray
, of "I Got a Woman" serves as the introduction to "Gold Digger".
The
John Mayer Trio
covered the song in their 2005 live album "
Try!
".
[13]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Whitburn, Joel
(2004).
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004
. Record Research. p. 74.
- ^
"Label shot, Atlantic 1050"
(JPG)
.
Static.rateyourmusic.com
. Retrieved
30 April
2021
.
- ^
Gerome, John (19 April 2007).
"Ray Charles turned gospel song into classic: Author"
.
Toronto Star
. Retrieved
29 September
2018
.
- ^
Dahl, Bill (1954-11-18).
"Ray Charles : I Got a Woman"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
2010-09-13
.
- ^
"Show 15 - The Soul Reformation: More on the evolution of rhythm and blues. [Part 1] : UNT Digital Library"
. Digital.library.unt.edu
. Retrieved
2010-09-13
.
- ^
"Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time"
.
Rolling Stone
. April 7, 2011. Archived from
the original
on October 16, 2015
. Retrieved
November 3,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Whitburn, Joel (2003).
Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
(1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p.
847
.
ISBN
0-89820-155-1
.
- ^
"GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com"
.
grammy.com
.
- ^
"Italian single certifications ? Ray Charles ? I've Got a Woman"
(in Italian).
Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana
. Retrieved
May 13,
2022
.
Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "I've Got a Woman" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
- ^
"British single certifications ? Ray Charles ? I've Got a Woman"
.
British Phonographic Industry
. Retrieved
May 13,
2022
.
- ^
"Elvis version"
.
Elvisthemusic.com
.
- ^
"I Got A Woman | The Beatles Bible"
.
www.beatlesbible.com
. 15 March 2008
. Retrieved
2016-08-28
.
- ^
John Mayer, John Mayer Trio - Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic
, retrieved
2023-03-15
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Studio albums
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top 10 singles
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Billboard
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See also
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1954
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1955
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1956
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1957
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1958
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1959
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1961
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1962
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1963
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1964
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1969
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1971
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1972
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1975
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1976
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1977
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1978
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Singles
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