Ray Charles News

You say you've never heard the Southern Tones' gospel song "It Must Be Jesus"?

Think again.

Ray Charles rewrote the lyrics to the tune and put his own twist to it, and it became his 1955 classic, "I Got a Woman"

In doing so, the late singer laid the underpinnings of rock 'n' roll, author Peter Guralnick said Thursday.

"Before `I Got a Woman' there had never been so direct and blatant a transcription of an actual gospel song," said Guralnick, who's written biographies on Elvis Presley and Sam Cooke and several books on American roots music.

Charles' R&B smash was seen as a sacrilege by some, with preachers denouncing it from the pulpit. But Guralnick said it opened the doors for gospel-based soul singers like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett and the Motown sound.

Guralnick, a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, discussed the song during a lecture at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which is currently presenting the exhibit "I Can't Stop Loving You: Ray Charles and Country Music."

While Charles is widely regarded an R&B legend, his lengthy legacy also extends into jazz, pop and country.

Guralnick said the gospel song that inspired "I Got a Woman" has for years been the subject of speculation. The author's research led him — often in serpentine fashion — to "It Must Be Jesus."

The similarities between the two, he said, are unmistakable, with the biggest difference being the new, secular lyrics.

As for Charles borrowing so generously from the song, Guralnick shrugged.

"I wouldn't accuse Ray Charles of theft. You have to see that this stuff is out there, and it's the way in which it's used that gives it its originality," he said.