The Spencer Davis Group

Two triumphant singles, "Gimme Some Lovin' " (1966) and "I'm a Man" (1967), featuring Steve Winwood's earliest (and some of his best) singing, made this Birmingham quartet one of Britain's classiest and toughest R&B outfits. A trad-blues fan, Davis had the luck to discover the 16-year-old Winwood, and the smart modesty basically to hand over the band to the precocious soulster. Winwood obviously came through -- had the rest of this band been even half so tough, the Spencer Davis Group would've rivaled the Animals. I'm a Man collects material from the group's second English album of bluesy rock. Davis went on to found other incarnations of his group: Funky is a strong representative of the music after Winwood left. The band's early original albums are out of print or hard to find, but EMI's greatest-hits album is a good summation of the high points. (PAUL EVANS)