"I'm a Man" | ||||
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Single by the Spencer Davis Group | ||||
B-side | "I Can't Get Enough of It" | |||
Released | 20 January 1967 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:58 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Jimmy Miller | |||
The Spencer Davis Group singles chronology | ||||
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"I'm a Man" is a song written by Steve Winwood and record producer Jimmy Miller. It was first recorded in 1967 by the Spencer Davis Group; Winwood sang lead vocals and played keyboards. The song was a hit in the United Kingdom and the United States, reaching No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. It has been recorded by many other performers over the years, most successfully by Chicago, whose version charted at No. 8 in the UK in 1970 and No. 49 in the US in 1971.
The original recording was a 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 Chart. [5] [6] In the US, it peaked at No. 10 in the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as No. 48 in the magazine's Top Selling R&B Singles. [7] 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 included on the band's 1967 album, I'm a Man.
"I'm a Man" | ||||
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Single by Chicago Transit Authority | ||||
from the album The Chicago Transit Authority | ||||
A-side | "Questions 67 and 68" | |||
Released | 1970 | |||
Recorded | 27–30 January 1969 | |||
Genre | Hard rock | |||
Length |
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Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | James William Guercio | |||
Chicago Transit Authority singles chronology | ||||
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Chicago (then known as Chicago Transit Authority) recorded a cover version of "I'm a Man" [lower-alpha 1] 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 No. 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1971. In the UK, it reached No. 8 [8] and No. 13 in Ireland. [9]
Chicago personnel:
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 advertisement for the Polo was a cover version by a young British singer-songwriter, Charlie Winston. The Noam Murro-directed [15] advert received complaints from the RSPCA and over 750 viewers. [16] [17]
Traffic were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards, sitar, and various reed instruments, and by incorporating jazz and improvisational techniques in their music.
Stephen Lawrence Winwood is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his distinctive soulful high tenor voice, Winwood plays other instruments proficiently, including drums, mandolin, bass, and saxophone.
Nicola James Capaldi was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he co-wrote the majority of the band's material. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Traffic's original lineup.
Daniel Earl Hartman was an American pop rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, and songwriter and original frontman for several bands, including The Soploids, Mak and the Turnarounds, Our Wringer, Last Wing, and Orion. Among songs he wrote and recorded were "Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits "Relight My Fire", "Instant Replay", "I Can Dream About You", "We Are the Young" and "Second Nature". "I Can Dream About You", his most successful US hit, reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 in 1985. The James Brown song "Living in America", which Hartman co-wrote and produced, reached No. 4 on March 1, 1986.
David Thomas Mason is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic, and went on to play and record with many notable pop and rock musicians, including Paul McCartney, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steve Winwood, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell, and Cass Elliot.
Was (Not Was) is an American band founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often featuring guest musicians from across the musical spectrum. The band's most popular period was during the 1980s and early 1990s, with their highest-charting hit, the song "Walk the Dinosaur", released in 1987 as the lead single from their 1988 album What Up, Dog?, becoming a worldwide top-40 hit and peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The band went on indefinite hiatus in the mid-1990s, but has returned sporadically since the turn of the millennium. Their most recent release was the 2008 album Boo!.
"Gimme Some Lovin'" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, Rolling Stone included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs.
Club House were an Italian Italo house band formed in Italy in 1983. The group consisted of Carl Fanini, Gianfranco Bortolotti, Hidalgo Serra, and Silvio Pozzoli.
"Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now" is a popular song written by bandleader and occasional songwriter Milton Kellem The first known recorded version was released in 1951 by Roy Hogsed. Since then it has been done in several styles and tempos.
The Spencer Davis Group were a British blues and R&B influenced rock band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood and Muff Winwood, and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK No. 1 hits "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me" and the UK and US Top 10 hits "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man".
"I'm Every Woman" is a song by American singer Chaka Khan, released in September 1978 by Warner Bros. as her debut solo single from her first album, Chaka (1978). It was Khan's first hit outside her recordings with the funk band Rufus. "I'm Every Woman" was produced by Arif Mardin and written by the successful songwriting team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The single established Chaka's career outside the group Rufus, whom she would leave after their eighth studio album, Masterjam, was released in late 1979.
"I'm Not in Love" is a song by British group 10cc, written by band members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman. It is known for its innovative and distinctive backing track, composed mostly of the band's multitracked vocals. Released in the UK in May 1975 as the second single from the band's third album, The Original Soundtrack, it became the second of the group's three number-one singles in the UK between 1973 and 1978, topping the UK Singles Chart for two weeks. "I'm Not in Love" became the band's breakthrough hit outside the United Kingdom, topping the charts in Canada and Ireland as well as peaking within the top 10 of the charts in several other countries, including Australia, West Germany, New Zealand, Norway and the United States.
"It's in His Kiss" is a song written and composed by Rudy Clark. It was first released as a single in 1963 by Merry Clayton that did not chart. The song was made a hit a year later when recorded by Betty Everett, who hit No. 1 on the Cashbox magazine R&B charts with it in 1964. Recorded by dozens of artists and groups around the world in the decades since, the song became an international hit once again when covered by Cher in 1990.
Macho was an Italian-American disco/R&B studio group. The Guadeloupe born French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus and Italian musician Mauro Malavasi, formed a joint production company, called Goody Music Production (GMP), in the mid-1970s. Their first project, in 1978, was called Macho, featuring Italian Marzio Vincenti as lead singer. Their only album was composed of three extended tracks. The band's sole chart success in the United States was an almost 18-minute-long disco cover version of the Spencer Davis Group's 1967 hit "I'm a Man", which was written by Steve Winwood. The track reached the Top 10 in the Billboard magazine's Dance chart in October 1978. An edited seven-minute version was also released.
"Keep On Running" is a song written and first recorded by Jackie Edwards. It became a hit in the UK for The Spencer Davis Group; their version reached number one in the charts.
"I'm Already There" is a song recorded by American country music band Lonestar, written by lead singer Richie McDonald along with Gary Baker and Frank J. Myers. It was released in March 2001 as the lead-off single to their fourth studio album of the same name. It spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The song was the band's fifth consecutive Number One, and their seventh overall.
In is the third studio album by the Outsiders. It is the first album released by the band that did not make the Billboard charts.
"Yé ké yé ké" is a song by Guinean recording artist Mory Kanté. It was written by him and released in 1987 as a single from his third studio album, Akwaba Beach (1987). The song became an international hit; it was one of Africa's best-ever selling hits as well as being a European number one in 1988, making it the first ever African single to sell over one million copies. The song was a top five hit in France, Switzerland, West Germany and the Netherlands, where it topped the chart for two weeks. A remix, the "Afro Acid Mix" was especially made for UK release, where it reached No. 25. In 1994, German techno duo Hardfloor remixed the song and released this new version with moderate success. A Bollywood song, "Tamma Tamma Loge", also used the music of the song.
"Days of Pearly Spencer" is a 1967 song written and originally performed by Northern Irish singer-songwriter David McWilliams, and included on his second album David McWilliams Vol. 2. Although it charted in several countries in continental Europe and in Australia, the original version was not a chart success in either the United Kingdom or Ireland. The song was rerecorded by McWilliams with a new arrangement in his album Working for the Government (1987). In 1992, a cover version by English pop singer Marc Almond reached number four on the UK Singles Chart and number eight in Ireland.
"When I Come Home" is a song written by Steve Winwood and Jackie Edwards, first recorded by Winwood's band the Spencer Davis Group in 1966. Released as a single that summer, it reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart. The single received mixed reviews upon release, with Penny Valentine deeming it inferior to their previous singles. The band was featured in the movie The Ghost Goes Gear (1966), miming to the track.
...plenty of great hard rock songs, like the Spencer Davis Group's "I'm A Man," were also great funk songs...