Bo Diddley - I'm a man

First performance: 00/09/1969

Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song only once in full and 23 times as a snippet:  
 
1968-09-00 Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ 
 
Springsteen (along with fellow Earth-band members John Graham and Michael Burke) entered Ocean County College in September 1968. Bruce ended up staying for three semesters, dropping out in December 1969 shortly after his parents moved to California. Earth is believed to have performed several times at Ocean County College during the September to December 1968 period. Springsteen even contributed a piece of poetry to Seascape, the school's Literary Yearbook. The twenty-six mentioned songs are taken from the only known Earth-era repertoire listing. The document is likely to have been created by Springsteen in September or October 1968. The amount of tracks displayed, their sequencing, plus the header and numbering notation by Bruce, all point to this as being an inventory of Earth's live repertoire of 'cover' material. For this reason it is of greater historical significance than an individual gig setlist, particularly in that no Earth audio is circulating. A few of these songs are performance hold-overs from the The Castiles-era. Since Earth was a three-piece band it's hardly surprising that material from both Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (the era's two premier three-piece bands) are abundantly represented. 
 
 
  
photo credit Billy Smith
 
  • Snippets
during ADAM RAISED A CAIN

1988-08-03 Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
1988-08-02 Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain
1988-07-30 Weserstadion, Bremen, West Germany
1988-07-27 Valle Hovin Stadion, Oslo, Norway
1988-07-25 Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark
1988-07-22 Waldbühne, West Berlin, West Germany
1988-07-19 Radrennbahn Weissensee, East Berlin, East Germany
1988-07-17 Olympia-Reitstadion Riem, Munich, West Germany
1988-07-14 St. Jakob Stadion, Basel, Switzerland
1988-07-12 Waldstadion, Frankfurt, West Germany
1988-07-10 Bramall Lane, Sheffield, England
1988-07-09 Bramall Lane, Sheffield, England
1988-07-07 RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland
1988-07-03 Stockholms Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden
1988-07-02 Stockholms Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden
1988-06-29 Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1988-06-28 Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1988-06-25 Wembley Stadium, London, England
1988-06-22 Villa Park, Birmingham, England
1988-06-21 Villa Park, Birmingham, England
1988-06-19 Hippodrome De Vincennes, Paris, France
1988-06-16 Stadio Flaminio, Rome, Italy
1988-05-23 Madison Square Garden, New York City
 

Songinfo

"I'm a Man" is a rhythm and blues song written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1955. A moderately slow number, it was inspired by an earlier blues song and became a number one U.S. R&B chart hit. "I'm a Man" has been recorded by a variety of artists. I'm a Man" was released as the B-side of "Bo Diddley". The single became a two-sided hit. "I'm a Man" was inspired by Muddy Waters' 1954 song "Hoochie Coochie Man", written by Willie Dixon. After Diddley's release, Waters recorded an "answer song" to "I'm a Man" in May 1955, titled "Mannish Boy",a play on words on Bo Diddley's younger age as it related to the primary theme of the song.
 
 
 

Bruce on the artist

1987-01-21 - WALDORF-ASTORIA HOTEL, NEW YORK CITY

Bo Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.Bruce had one performance with Bo Diddley during the second annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony. Bruce gives a stirring induction speech for Roy Orbison and then duets with him on "Oh, Pretty Woman" during the jam. Other inductees include Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, and Smokey Robinson. Performers during the jam, along with Bruce and Orbison, include Bo Diddley, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, and more.
 
 
 

Lyrics

Now when I was a little boy,
At the age of five,
I had somethin' in my pocket,
Keep a lot of folks alive.

Now I'm a man,
Made twenty-one,
You know baby,
We can have a lot of fun.

I'm a man,
I spell m-a-n... Man.

All you pretty women,
Stand in line,
I can make love to you baby,
In an hour's time.

I'm a man,
I spell m-a-n... Man.

I goin' back down,
To kansas to
Bring back the second cousin,
Little john the conqueroo.

I'm a man,
I spell m-a-n... Man.

The line I shoot,
Will never miss,
The way I make love to 'em,
They can't resist.

I'm a man,
I spell m-a-n... Man.