"Set Him Free" is a song written by Skeeter Davis, Helen Moyer, and Marie Wilson. In 1959, Skeeter Davis recorded and released the song as a single for RCA Victor.

"Set Him Free"
Single by Skeeter Davis
from the album I'll Sing You a Song and Harmonize Too
B-side"The Devil's Doll"[1]
ReleasedFebruary 1959
RecordedJanuary 1959
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S
GenreCountry, Nashville Sound
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Skeeter Davis, Helen Moyers, Marie Wilson
Producer(s)Chet Atkins
Skeeter Davis singles chronology
"The Slave"
(1958)
"Set Him Free"
(1959)
"Homebreaker"
(1959)

"Set Him Free" was recorded in January 1959 at the RCA Victor Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.[1] The song was released as a single in February 1959, and it peaked at number five on the Billboard Magazine Hot C&W Sides chart later that year. The single became Davis' highest-charting single to that point and her third solo hit. In November 1959, "Set Him Free" was issued onto Davis' debut studio album entitled, I'll Sing You a Song and Harmonize Too.[2]

In 1959, "Set Him Free" became the first song by a female country artist nominated by the Grammy Awards.[3]

In 1967, Davis re-recorded an updated version of "Set Him Free" and released it as a single in late 1967. The new version peaked at number fifty-two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and was issued onto her studio album entitled, What Does It Take (To Keep a Man Like You Satisfied).[2]

Chart performance

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Original recording
Chart (1959) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot C&W Sides 5
Re-recording
Chart (1967) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 52

References

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  1. ^ a b "Skeeter Davis discography". Praguefrank's Country Discographies. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research.
  3. ^ "2013 Hall of Fame Inductees" (PDF). Kentucky Music Museum. Retrieved 6 January 2014.