I'm A Man

Bo Diddley time! In this episode, we examine his 1955 b-side, "I'm A Man." The original is sparse, minimal, sexual, spiritual and powerful. We get real deep into the lyrics and textbooks get slammed. It took a long time, but in 1964, The Yardbirds authored a version that sounds like it comes from a utopian future of highly skilled R&B robots. And it has the ultimate Royalette! In 1965, Netherland's The Bintangs put out a garage version that's snotty, lazy, lethargic, hypnotic and cool. The Groupies brought the song back to the US - New York specifically, and they make the tune swampy, weird, and rhythmic: are there swamps in Manhattan? Finally, fast forward to the grungiest city of 1990 - Seattle - and listen to Dickless's version. Is it a protest of how the song and sound came to exemplify macho cock-rock attitudes? Probably! It has an extreme vocal performance and FUZZ and some wild slide gee-tar. OWWWW!