I'm a Man (Spencer Davis Group song)
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| "I'm A Man" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Spencer Davis Group | ||
| Released | January 1967 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Writer(s) | Steve Winwood, Jimmy Miller | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Spencer Davis Group singles chronology | ||
| Gimme Some Lovin' (1966) |
I'm A Man (1967) |
Time Seller (1967) |
| Chicago singles chronology | ||
| Beginnings / Colour My World (1971) |
Questions 67 and 68 / I'm A Man (1971) |
Saturday in the Park (1972) |
"I'm A Man" is a song written by Spencer Davis Group singer-songwriter Steve Winwood and record producer Jimmy Miller.
The original recording was a fast, Hammond organ-driven blues rock track released as a single by the Spencer Davis Group in early 1967, reaching no. 9 in the UK singles charts. It was the last hit single by the band before the brothers Steve and Muff Winwood left to pursue their own separate careers.
The song is sometimes confused with another SDG hit, "Gimme Some Lovin'", which has been a hit for various other bands, and was also covered by Steve Winwood's next band, Traffic.
"I'm A Man" seems not to have been included on any SDG album recorded during the band's lifetime, but it is featured on the recent Spencer Davis Group DVD "Gimme Some Lovin' Live 1966", which was recorded live in late 1966.
[edit] Cover versions
Chicago recorded a cover version of "I'm A Man" for their 1969 debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority. When the band's popularity surged after their second album, "I'm A Man" was released as the B-side to a re-release of "Questions 67 and 68". Radio stations ended up playing both sides, and "I'm A Man" reached #49 on the U.S. charts in 1971.
Chicago's cover is a borderline heavy metal arrangement clocking in at 7 minutes and 40 seconds, and is based around the powerful guitar playing of Terry Kath and virtuoso drumming of Danny Seraphine. Kath, Peter Cetera and Robert Lamm each sing a verse apiece (singing not the lyrics as written, but as Chicago apparently misunderstood them), preluding an extended drum solo before a return to the second and third verses and choruses that bring the song to a climactic drum roll, and finally leading into a Terry Kath guitar solo to bring the song to a dramatic close. This version remains a fan favourite. Santana has also sampled a small part of this song in the track "Waiting" which appears on their self titled 1969 debut album.
Marzio Vincenzi, lead and background vocalist originally from Bologna, Italy, and Mauro Malavasi produced in 1978 a version of "I'm A Man" under the name "Macho" which is a classic of Disco music, or as some have classified it, "rosco music", a hybrid between Rock and Disco genres.
[edit] References
- http://www.brumbeat.net/sdgroup.htm (the section on the Spencer Davis Group)
- The back of the 1967 album The Best of the Spencer David Group Featuring Stevie Winwood
