I GOT A WOMAN
RAY CHARLES
SONGWRITERS: RAY CHARLES & RENALD RICHARD
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: RAY CHARLES
LABEL: ATLANTIC
GENRE: BLUES
YEAR: 1957
"I
Got a Woman" (originally titled "I've Got a Woman")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). The song was
notably sampled in Kanye West's 2005
hit song, "Gold Digger".
Ray
Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer,
songwriter, pianist, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being
called "Brother Ray." He was often referred to as
"The Genius." Charles was blinded during childhood due to glaucoma.
Charles
pioneered the soul music genre
during the 1950s by combining blues,
jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the
music he recorded for Atlantic.
He contributed to the integration of country music,
rhythm and blues, and pop music during
the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records,
notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. While
he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted
artistic control by a mainstream record company.
Charles'
1960 hit "Georgia On My Mind"
was the first of his three career No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. His
1962 album, Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music,
became his first album to top the Billboard 200.
Charles had multiple singles reach the Top 40 on various Billboard charts: 44 on the US R&B singles chart, 11 on the Hot 100 singles chart, 2 on the Hot Country singles charts.
Charles
cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by Louis Jordan and Charles Brown.
He had a lifelong friendship and occasional partnership with Quincy Jones. Frank Sinatra called Ray Charles "the only true genius in show
business," although Charles downplayed this notion. Billy Joel said,
"This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important
than Elvis Presley".
Charles
is a 17-time Grammy Award winner. He was honored with the Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987; 10 of
his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall
of Fame. In 2002, Rolling Stone ranked Charles No. 10 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time,"
and No. 2 on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" in
2008.
Well, I
got a woman, way over town
That's good to me, oh, yeah
Said I got a woman, way over town
Good to me, oh, yeah
She
gives me money when I'm in need
Yeah, she's a kind of friend indeed
I got a woman, way over town
That's good to me, oh, yeah
She
saves her loving, early in the morning
Just for me, oh, yeah
She saves her loving, early in the morning
Just for me, oh, yeah
She
saves her loving, just for me
She loves me, so tenderly
I got a woman, way over town
That's good to me, oh, yeah
She's
there to love me
Both day and night
Never grumbles or fusses
Always treats me right
Never
running in the streets
Leaving me alone
She knows a woman's place
Is right there, now, in the home
I got a
woman, way over town
That's good to me, oh, yeah
Said I got a woman, way over town
That's good to me, oh, yeah
Well,
she's my baby, don't you understand
Yeah, I'm her loving man, now
I got a woman, way over town
She's good to me, oh, yeah
Well,
don't you know she's all right
Well, don't you know she's all right
She's all right
She's all right
She's all right.