Rainy Night in Georgia

Infobox Single
Name = Rainy Night in Georgia


Artist = Brook Benton
from Album = Brook Benton Today
B-side = "Where Do I Go From Here?"
Released = 1969
Format = Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded = 1969
Genre = R&B, Soul
Length = 3:29
Label = Cotillion/Atlantic
Writer = Tony Joe White
Producer = Arif Mardin

"Rainy Night in Georgia" is a song written by Tony Joe White in 1962 and popularized by R&B vocalist Brook Benton in 1970. In 1969, after several years without a major hit, Benton had signed to a new record label, Cotillion Records (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records). Brought to the attention of producer Jerry Wexler, Benton recorded the song in November 1969 with producer Arif Mardin. Taken from his "come-back" album "Brook Benton Today", the melancholy song became an instant hit. In the spring of 1970, the song had topped the "Billboard Magazine" Black Singles chart. It also reached #4 on the Pop Singles and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts, respectively. The RIAA certified the single gold for sales of one million copies. In 2004, it was ranked #498 on the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Covers

The song has been covered by a number of musicians, including Ray Charles, Otis Rush, Randy Crawford, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Amos Garrett, Hank Williams, Jr., Shelby Lynne, John Holt, by the duet of Conway Twitty and Sam Moore, Aaron Neville, and reggae band The Gladiators. Most recently indie folk-rock band Hem released a cover on "No Word from Tom"' (2006). Australian band Ross Hanniford Trio recorded a cover of the song on their 1994 album. Interestingly, David Ruffin recorded a cover version of the song the same year as Benton, however, Motown for unknown reasons did not release the album. A dance version was recorded by Boozoo Bajou in 2006.