'Gimme Some Lovin' ' Bandleader Spencer Davis Dead at 81

Spencer Davis, the multi-instrumentalist and leader of the band that bore his name, has died at the age of 81. The Spencer Davis Group recorded such hits as "Gimme Some Lovin' " and "I'm a Man." Davis wasn't the lead singer on either song though, giving that job to a teenage Steve Winwood.

Davis died Monday while being treated for pneumonia, according to his tour manager and friend, Bob Birk, who worked with the musician for decades.

In a statement to NPR, Birk called him a "highly ethical, very talented, good-hearted, extremely intelligent, generous man."

Davis was born in Swansea, Wales, where he started singing in a boys' choir. By the time he was in college, he was invested in jazz and rhythm and blues. One day he ran into a young Winwood and his older brother, Muff, playing some country-blues songs at a bar, and Davis was so blown away that he asked the two to join his band immediately. (Davis told the Phonograph Record in 1971 that the elder Winwood had to join the band simply because Steve wasn't old enough to drive yet.)