The Yardbirds Versions
| "I'm a Man" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Yardbirds | ||||
| from the album Having a Rave Up | ||||
| B-side | "Still I'm Sad" | |||
| Released | October 6, 1965 (1965-10-06) | |||
| Format | 7" 45 rpm | |||
| Recorded |
Chess Records Studios, Chicago September 21–22, 1965 |
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| Genre | Blues rock | |||
| Length | 2:37 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Writer(s) | Ellas McDaniel aka Bo Diddley | |||
| Producer | Giorgio Gomelsky | |||
| The Yardbirds U.S. Singles chronology | ||||
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English rock band The Yardbirds recorded a live version of "I'm a Man" for their first UK album Five Live Yardbirds with Eric Clapton in 1964 (later released in the U.S. on the Having a Rave Up album). In 1965 during their first American tour, the Yardbirds, with Jeff Beck recorded a studio version of "I'm a Man". Their versions feature their signature "rave-up" arrangement, when the beat shifts into double time and the instrumentation builds to a crescendo. Beck added a "scratch-picking" technique to produce a percussive effect during the song's instrumental section, which "provides the climax on the studio version of "I'm a Man", perhaps the most famous Yardbirds rave-up of all".
Recording took place at the Chess Studios in Chicago, with additional recording at the Columbia Studios in New York. It was released as single and later included on their 1965 Epic Records album Having a Rave Up. The Yardbirds' version (with "Still I'm Sad" as its B-side, released by Epic Records in the U.S.) peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. The song was later released in the UK in 1976. Diddley praised their cover as "beautiful" and it has been called "a defining moment for the band".
In addition to the 1964 live version with Clapton, other live versions include those with Jeff Beck (1965 Yardbirds ...On Air, released 1991) and Jimmy Page (1968 Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page, released 1971).
Read more about this topic: I'm A Man (Bo Diddley Song)
Famous quotes containing the word versions:
“The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)