I'm a Man (The Spencer Davis Group song)
| "I'm a Man" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Spencer Davis Group | ||||
| B-side | "I Can't Get Enough of It" | |||
| Released | January 1967 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl | |||
| Genre | Rock, blues rock | |||
| Length | 2:58 | |||
| Label |
Fontana TF785 (UK) United Artists UA50144 (US) | |||
| Writer(s) | Steve Winwood, Jimmy Miller | |||
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Miller | |||
| The Spencer Davis Group singles chronology | ||||
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| "I'm a Man" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Chicago Transit Authority | ||||
| from the album The Chicago Transit Authority | ||||
| A-side | "Questions 67 and 68" | |||
| Released | 1970 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl | |||
| Recorded | 27/30 January 1969 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock | |||
| Length |
7:43 (Album version) 3:27 (Single version) | |||
| Label | Columbia 4-45467 | |||
| Producer(s) | James William Guercio | |||
| Chicago Transit Authority singles chronology | ||||
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"I'm a Man" is a song written by The Spencer Davis Group singer-songwriter Steve Winwood and record producer Jimmy Miller.
Original version by the Spencer Davis Group
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 number nine in the UK Singles Chart[1] and number 10 in the U.S. (the US edition was slightly edited) Billboard Hot 100.[2] It was the last hit single by the band before the brothers Steve and Muff Winwood left to pursue their own separate careers.
"I'm a Man" was included on the band's summer 1967 album, I'm a Man, as well as being featured on the 2005 Spencer Davis Group DVD Gimme Some Lovin' Live 1966. Although the recording is said to be late 1966, this date is in fact controversial. In an article and an interview on the "Living Archives" (Elävä arkisto) website of YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, the producer of the original live recording, Mr. Tapani Karhu, clearly states that the date of the show was 19 March 1967.
Chicago version
Chicago Transit Authority (now known as 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. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1971.[3]
Chicago's cover arrangement features an extended percussion and drum section with a total run time of 7 minutes and 40 seconds, and is based around the blues-rock guitar playing of Terry Kath, the drumming of Danny Seraphine, the bass of Peter Cetera, the soaring Hammond organ of Robert Lamm and the horn players periodically switching over to auxiliary percussion instruments, such as claves, cowbell, maracas, and tambourine. Kath, Cetera and Lamm each sing a verse apiece (not singing the lyrics as they were originally written, but as they misheard and/or revised them), preluding Seraphine's 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 guitar solo to bring the song to a dramatic close. This version is featured on the 1971 four record live album Chicago at Carnegie Hall and Chicago Live in Japan. Santana has also used a small part of this song in the track "Waiting" which appears on their self titled 1969 debut album.
Chicago Personnel:
- Terry Kath - lead vocals (first verses), backing vocals (choruses), fuzzed wah-wah electric guitars
- Peter Cetera - lead vocals (second verses), backing vocals (choruses), bass
- Robert Lamm - lead vocals (third verses), backing vocals (choruses), Hammond organ, maracas(?)
- Danny Seraphine - drums, maracas(?)
- Jimmy Pankow - cowbell, trombone
- Lee Loughnane - claves, trumpet
- Walt Parazaider - tambourine, tenor saxophone
It is unclear if the maracas were performed by Lamm or overdubbed by Seraphine during his drum solo.
Other cover versions
The Serfs album The Early Bird Cafe, Capitol, 1968, featured a percussion-heavy intro (pre-dating Chicago's) and Mike Finnigan's lead vocal. Their arrangement segued into Bo Diddley's song of the same name.
Progressive Hungarian band Syrius often played the song - combined with Brian Auger song Black Cat - in their concerts between 1970 and 1973. The studio version of the song has been recorded in 1971 in Australia, but it has been released more than twenty years later in 1994 on album Most, Mult, Lesz.
Former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine's current band, California Transit Authority (CTA), performed "I'm a Man" at their appearance at the 2006 Modern Drummer Festival in New Jersey. The performance featured extensive drumset and percussion solos. The tune also appears on CTA's first album, Full Circle, released in 2007.
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.
A further disco-flavored version is the one released by keyboardist Keith Emerson in his soundtrack album of the 1981 film Nighthawks, featuring him providing unlikely lead vocals. The song underpins a key scene in the movie in a slightly different version which features a longer instrumental coda not included in the original record.
In 1987 the Italian producer Gianfranco Bortolotti edited as Club House the maxi-single "I'm a man/Yéké Yéké" remixing both tracks.
Guitarist Roy Z's band, Tribe of Gypsies, included a cover of "I'm a Man" on their 1997 (Japanese import only) mini-album, Nothing Lasts Forever, adding a strong Latin rock flavor to the song.
A remix of the original was featured on Gravy: Remixes & Rarities in 2007 released by Acid Jazz Records.
Los Lonely Boys recorded a version on their 2008 album Forgiven.
VW Polo advert
Volkswagen aired a UK television commercial titled "Dog" in late winter 2008, which featured a dog miming singing "I'm a Man". The version used in the advert for the Polo was a cover version by a young British singer-songwriter, Charlie Winston. The Noam Murro-directed[4] advert was banned after complaints from the RSPCA and over 750 viewers.[5][6]
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.
The Live365 Internet radio service Radio Vietnam uses excerpts from "I'm a Man" as one of their station IDs.
The song was used in the Mad Men Season 7 premiere episode, "Time Zones".
The song was featured in the 2014 film Pawn Sacrifice.
The 2015 film Minions featured the song and is also on the film's soundtrack.
References
- ↑ "Chart Stats - Spencer Davis Group - I'm A Man". Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ↑ "The Spencer Davis Group > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ↑ "Chicago > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ↑ VW Polo Dog credits
- ↑ O'Meara, Ryan (2008-03-29). "RSCPA Complain About ‘Abused’ Dog in Volkswagen TV Advert - Let’s Get Our Priorities Right Shall We?". K9 Magazine. K9 Media Ltd. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
- ↑ Judd, Terri (2008-06-25). "Kiss goodbye to your sales, Stonewall tells 'homophobic' Heinz after advert is pulled". The Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- 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
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