Written and originally recorded by Tony Joe White (1962 |1969).
Also recorded by David Ruffin (1970).
Hit version by Brook Benton (US #4/R&B #1 1970).
From the wiki: “‘Rainy Night in Georgia’ is a song written and first recorded by Tony Joe White in 1962 (and re-recorded by White in 1969) and was popularized by R&B vocalist Brook Benton in 1970.
“In 1967, White signed with Monument Records, which operated from a recording studio in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, TN. Over the next three years, White released four singles with no commercial success Stateside, although ‘Soul Francisco’ was a hit in France. ‘Polk Salad Annie’ had been released for nine months and written off as a failure by his record label when it finally entered the US charts in July 1969. It climbed into the Top Ten by early August, eventually reaching #8, becoming White’s biggest performance hit.