Chicago Transit Authority 'I'm A Man' (Columbia, 1969) (mp3)

Bizarrely, this is the same band that, once shortened to Chicago, went on to give the world the longest unbroken series of soft-rock ballads in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. I haven't checked the facts but that's probably true.

It's bizarre because the album version of 'I'm A Man' is a funky, groove-a-thon and, to me anyway, sounds like a precursor to the likes of ESG or Liquid Liquid ('Cavern' is definitely the product of cosmic reverberations of the bass-work on this track).

What starts as a pretty groovy cover of Spencer Davis Group's organ-heavy 1967 single - and a strong contribution to the template for first two or three albums of The Charlatans' career - breaks down after three minutes into a Latin percussive work-out. It builds in intensity and rouses itself to full power through some octopus drumming and ever-present wood-block tinks. It's a monstrous rhythmic orgy and when the organ drops back in accompanied by some searing guitar, you are ready to frug.

A most unexpected surprise.

Download Chicago Transit Authority 'I'm A Man' (mp3) (Box.net)