"Set Him Free" is a song written by

Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis Si ...

, Helen Moyer, and Marie Wilson. In 1959, Skeeter Davis recorded and released the song as a single for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

. "Set Him Free" was recorded in January 1959 at the RCA Victor Studio in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The song was released as a single in February 1959, and it peaked at number five on the ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' 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 ''I'll Sing You a Song and Harmonize Too'' is the debut studio album by American country artist Skeeter Davis. The album was released in November 1959 by RCA Victor and was produced by Chet Atkins. It signified Davis' first solo album ever releas ...

''. In 1959, "Set Him Free" became the first song by a female country artist nominated by the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. 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 Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart and was issued onto her studio album entitled, ''What Does It Take (To Keep a Man Like You Satisfied)''.

Chart performance

;Original recording ;Re-recording

References

1959 songs Skeeter Davis songs Songs written by Skeeter Davis Song recordings produced by Chet Atkins RCA Victor singles {{1950s-country-song-stub