Ray Charles recorded his classic tune "What'd I Say" on February 18, 1959.Charles had written the song while in concert. In order to fill time at the end of gig in late 1958, the singer and his band improvised a call-and-response jam that eventually became "What'd I Say."The February 18 session took place at the studios of Atlantic records. Charles recorded another song, "Tell The Truth," at the same session. Once the recording was done, "What'd I Say" clocked in at over seven minutes long. Engineers split it into two parts, each one on either side of the single."What'd I Say" turned out to be a huge hit, his biggest crossover success at Atlantic and his biggest hit on the overall singles chart until "Georgia On My Mind" in 1960.