"I'm a Man" is a song written by

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) 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 dis ...

and record producer

Jimmy Miller Jimmy Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is known primarily for his work with several key musical acts of the 1960s ...

. It was first recorded in 1967 by

the Spencer Davis Group 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 (vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). ...

; 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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, whose version charted at No. 8 in the UK in 1970 and No. 49 in the US in 1971.

Original song

The original recording was a

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

-driven

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

track released as a single by the

Spencer Davis Group 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 (vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). ...

in early 1967, reaching No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart. 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. It was the last

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

single by the band before the brothers Steve and

Muff Winwood Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943, Erdington, Birmingham, England) is an English songwriter and record producer. The elder brother of Steve Winwood, both were members of The Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff played bass gui ...

left to pursue their own separate careers. The song is included on the band's 1967 album, ''I'm a Man''.

Chicago version

(then known as Chicago Transit Authority) recorded a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to a re-release of "

Questions 67 and 68 "Questions 67 and 68" is a 1969 song written by Robert Lamm for the rock band Chicago (then known as Chicago Transit Authority) and recorded for their debut album ''Chicago Transit Authority''. It was their first single release. Peter Cetera is th ...

". Radio stations ended up playing both sides, and "I'm a Man" reached No. 49 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1971. It reached No. 8 in the UK and No. 13 in Ireland. Chicago personnel: *

Terry Kath Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) was an American guitarist and singer who is best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He played lead guitar and sang lead vocals on many of the band's early hit singl ...

– lead vocals (first verse), backing vocals, guitar *

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera Jr. ( ; born September 13, 1944) is a retired American musician best known for being a frontman, vocalist, and bassist for the American rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985. His career as a recording artist ...

– lead vocals (second verse), backing vocals, bass *

Robert Lamm Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his songwriting, vocals, and keyboard melodies, most significantly on the band's debut studio album, ''Chic ...

– lead vocals (third verse), backing vocals, keyboards *

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer, and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from ...

– drums, maracas *

Jimmy Pankow James Carter Pankow (born August 20, 1947) is an American trombone player, songwriter, and brass instrument arranger who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his brass arrangements, and for being one-third of Chic ...

– cowbell, trombone *

Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/wo ...

– claves, trumpet *

Walt Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/woodwind section alongside Lee Loughnane and James Pankow. Parazai ...

– tambourine, tenor saxophone

Other cover versions

*Yugoslav rock band

Siluete Siluete ( sr-cyr, Силуете, trans. ''The Silhouettes'') were a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1961. They were one of the pioneers of the Yugoslav rock scene. Soon after the formation, Siluete, fronted by charismatic ...

recorded it in 1967 for the Yugoslav TV show (''A Concert for Young Crazy World''). The video was shot in the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

town settings in the

Avala Film Avala Studios, formerly known as Avala Film ( sr-Cyrl, Aвала филм), is a Serbian film studio, founded in 1946 as the first studio founded in post-war Yugoslavia. As of April 2025, it is fully owned by the Czech "Sebre Avala Holding". Over ...

Studios. *US soul-jazz-psych band The Serfs recorded a version of this song on their 1969 LP Early Bird Cafe, albeit mis-credited to E. McDaniel (a.k.a.

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

), who recorded a different song of the same name. *Italian-American band

Macho Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...

recorded a 17-minute disco rendition of the song in 1978, based loosely off of the Chicago arrangement. A shortened version was released as a single, and reached the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Disco Action chart. *In 1987, Italian producer

Gianfranco Bortolotti Gianfranco Bortolotti (; born 2 May 1959) is an Italian electronic music producer and manager of Media Records and Media Studio. He was a member of Cappella, and 49ers who had several hits, and Fits of Gloom, who had a UK No. 47 hit with "Heave ...

released a medley under his Club House alias, with "I'm a Man" being mixed with Mory Kanté's "

Yé ké yé ké "Yé ké yé ké" is a song by Guinean recording artist Mory Kanté. It was written by him and released on his third album, ''Á Paris'', in 1984. A remixed version was included in his fifth album, ''Akwaba Beach'' (1987), and released as a sin ...

". In 1989 the single was licensed to Music Man Records in the UK and became a small hit peaking at No. 69 in the British charts. *

Los Lonely Boys Los Lonely Boys are an American musical group from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll", combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown-eyed soul, country music, country, and Tejano music. The ...

released the song on their album '' Forgiven''. *

Ty Segall Ty Garrett Segall (born June 8, 1987) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his solo career, during which he has released seventeen studio albums alongside various EPs, singles, and col ...

included it on his album of covers ''Fudge Sandwich''. *

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...

's track appears on their 1994's album ''

Frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

''.

VW Polo advertisement

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

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 Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

was a cover version by a young British singer-songwriter,

Charlie Winston Charlie Winston Gleave, better known as Charlie Winston, is a British singer-songwriter based in the South of France. Winston has so far had his most significant commercial success in France. Music career Early career Winston played bass guita ...

. The

Noam Murro Noam Murro (; born ) is an Israeli film director and film producer. He is best known for directing the films '' Smart People'', '' 300: Rise of an Empire'', and the BBC miniseries ''Watership Down''. Early and personal life Murro was born and rai ...

-directed advert received complaints from the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

and over 750 viewers.

Notes

References

External links

* Review of "I'm a Man"by

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:I'm A Man 1967 singles 1971 singles The Spencer Davis Group songs Chicago (band) songs Songs written by Steve Winwood Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Song recordings produced by James William Guercio Fontana Records singles United Artists Records singles Columbia Records singles 1967 songs