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 and number 10 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. 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 DVDGimme 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" 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
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 and got as high as the top ten in the UK, reached #8. The song reached #13 in Ireland. 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 distortion-heavy blues-rock guitar 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, preluding Seraphine's extended drum solo before a return to the second and third verses with the horn section 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 albumChicago at Carnegie Hall and Chicago Live in Japan and has remained a fan favorite and concert staple throughout Chicago's career. 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, backing vocals, guitar
Peter Cetera - lead vocals, backing vocals, bass
Robert Lamm - lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards
The Serfs album The Early Bird Cafe, Capitol, 1968, featured a percussion-heavy intro and Mike Finnigan's lead vocal. Their arrangement segued into Bo Diddley's song of the same name. Former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine's current band, California Transit Authority, 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 and Mauro Malavasiproduced in 1978 a disco version of "I'm a Man" under the name Macho. A further disco-flavored version is the one released by keyboardist Keith Emerson in his soundtrack album of the 1981 filmNighthawks, 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. Ty Segall recorded a version of the song as a single in 2018, released by In the Red Records
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 advert was banned after complaints from the RSPCA and over 750 viewers.
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. It is based on a 1976 composition called The Bean Stalker that also used the same melody, horn section and organ solo. 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. In 2016, the original Spencer Davis Group version was used in an advert for Amazon Prime in the UK and Germany. In 2017, the original Spencer Davis Group version was used in Episode 5 of The Vietnam War, a documentary by Ken Burns. The 2004 British TV Show Mile High used it in one of their episodes. In 2020, the original Spencer Davis Group version was used in Episode 2 of The Umbrella Academy season 2, a Netflix series.
