"I'm a Man" (The Spencer Davis Group)

If there's one song that might make you think Steve Winwood was born on Chicago's South Side and raised in Memphis (he actually hails from Birmingham, England), it's "I'm a Man," the 1967 Spencer Davis Group single he wrote with Jimmy Miller, the producer extraordinaire who helped The Rolling Stones craft their strongest, greasiest work between 1968 and 1973.
The track is three minutes of pure groove, steeped in rhythm and infused with blues.  The dissonant guitar licks and blasts of Hammond B-3 organ against the backdrop of syncopated drums and cowbell make the song feel like it was cut at Chess or Stax.  Winwood's vocal (which is heavily indebted to Ray Charles) also adds to the American R&B vibe of the tune.  Granted, it's not exactly easy to discern what he's singing about because the words fly by at a breakneck pace, but a read of the lyrics reveal that it's actually a clever take on misconceptions about stardom.  The gist: just because he's famous doesn't mean he's not the same guy he always was.  My favorite stanza:

I got to keep my image
While suspended from a throne
That looks out upon a kingdom
Full of people all unknown
Who imagine I'm not human
And my heart is made of stone
I never had no problems
And my toilet's trimmed with chrome