"I Got A Woman" (originally "I've Got a Woman") was written by Ray Charles and trumpeter Renald Richard. Charles and his band recorded it on November 18, 1954, at the WGST studios of Georgia Tech's radio station in Atlanta, with Jerry Wexler as producer. Atlantic Records released it as a single in December 1954 (45-1050), with "Come Back Baby" on the B-side, and it later appeared on the 1957 album Ray Charles, reissued as Hallelujah I Love Her So. The song builds on "It Must Be Jesus" by the Southern Tones, which Charles had heard on the radio, and its bridge was inspired by Big Bill Broonzy's "Living on Easy Street". It pairs a gospel-frenetic pace with secular lyrics over a jazz-inspired R&B background. Charles said he performed it for about a year before recording it. It was his first hit, reaching number one on the R&B charts in January 1955, and it is cited as one of the prototypes of soul music, after "What'd I Say". Elvis Presley recorded it in January 1956 for RCA, and it became a staple of his shows. Other versions include those by Johnny Hallyday (1962) and The Beatles (BBC sessions in 1963 and 1964). Charles's 1965 re-recording, "I Gotta Woman", reached No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100. The 1954 recording entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1990, and Rolling Stone ranked it No. 239 in its 500 Greatest Songs. Dire Straits referenced it in "Walk of Life" (1985), and Kanye West's "Gold Digger" (2005) includes a Jamie Foxx interpolation of it.
