Set Me Free (The Kinks song)

"Set Me Free" is a song by Ray Davies, released first by the Kinks in 1965. Along with "Tired of Waiting for You", it is one of band's first attempts at a softer, more introspective sound. The song's B-side, "I Need You", makes prominent use of powerchords in the style of the Kinks' early "raunchy" sound. "Set Me Free" was heard in the Ken Loach-directed Up the Junction, a BBC Wednesday Play which aired in November 1965; this marked the first appearance of a Kinks song on a film or TV soundtrack.

B-side"I Need You"

Released21 May 1965

Recorded13–14 April 1965^[1]

StudioPye, London

Quick facts Single by the Kinks, from the album Kinda Kinks (US edition) ...

"Set Me Free"
Dutch picture sleeve
Single by the Kinks
from the album Kinda Kinks (US edition)
B-side	"I Need You"
Released	21 May 1965
Recorded	13–14 April 1965[1]
Studio	Pye, London
Genre	Pop[2] R&B[1]
Length	2:12
Label	Pye (UK) Reprise (US)
Songwriter	Ray Davies
Producer	Shel Talmy
The Kinks UK singles chronology
"Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy" (1965) "Set Me Free" (1965) "See My Friends" (1965)
The Kinks US singles chronology
"Tired of Waiting for You" (1965) "Set Me Free" (1965) "Who'll Be the Next in Line" (1965)

Close

Billboard said of the single that "hot on the heels of [the Kinks'] 'Tired of Waiting for You' smash comes this down home blues rhythm material with a good teen lyric."^[3] Cash Box described it as "a snappy tune that’s taken for an engaging disk ride."^[4]