I'm a Man (Spencer Davis Group song)

Infobox Single
Name =I'm a Man


Artist =Spencer Davis Group
from Album =
B-side ="I Can't Get Enough Of It"
Released =January 1967
Format =7"
Recorded =
Genre =Rock
Length =
Label =Fontana TF785
Writer =Steve Winwood, Jimmy Miller
Producer =
Certification =
Chart position =
* #9 (UK)
* #10 (US)
Last single ="Gimme Some Lovin'" (1966)
This single = I'm A Man (1967)
Next single ="Time Seller" (1967)
Misc = Extra chronology
Artist = Chicago
Type = singles
Last single = Beginnings / Colour My World (1971)
This single = Questions 67 and 68 / I'm A Man (1971)
Next single = 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 #9 in the UK Singles Chart and #10 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. 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" was included on the band's summer 1967 album, "I'm a Man", as well as being featured on the recent Spencer Davis Group DVD "Gimme Some Lovin' Live 1966", which was recorded live in late 1966.

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. chart in 1971.

Chicago's cover is a borderline heavy metal arrangement, clocking in at 7 minutes and 40 seconds, and is based around the power guitar playing of Terry Kath, the virtuoso drumming of Danny Seraphine and the horn section doubling on auxiliary percussion instruments, such as claves, cowbell and tambourine. 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 used 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.

Roy Z.'s band, Tribe Of Gypsies included the cover of "I'm A Man" on their (Japanese import only) mini-album "Nothing Lasts Forever" and added Latino-influence to the song.

Los Lonely Boys have recorded a version on their 2008 album "Forgiven".

VW Polo advert

VW Polo aired a UK television commercial in 2008 which included a dog singing "I'm a Man". The version used in the advert was a cover version by a young British singer-songwriter, Charlie Winston.

In other media

An instrumental disco version of the song is occasionally featured in the game show, "The Price Is Right", mostly for reveals of new cars.

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 Davis Group Featuring Stevie Winwood"

External links

* [http://www.stevewinwood.com/releases/lyrics/index.htm Winwood Lyric index]