I Need You (The Kinks song)

"I Need You"
UK B-side label
Single by the Kinks
A-side"Set Me Free"
Released21 May 1965
Recorded13–14 April 1965[1]
StudioPye, London[1]
Length2:29
Label
SongwriterRay Davies
ProducerShel Talmy
The Kinks singles chronology
"Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy"
(1965)
"Set Me Free" / "I Need You"
(1965)
"See My Friends"
(1965)

"I Need You" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks released on 21 May 1965 as the B-side to "Set Me Free". The song, along with "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night", has been cited as one of the influences which shifted the focus from rock 'n' roll to hard-hitting rock music. Never a part of the Kinks live act, it has since been revived live by both Davies brothers solo in the 21st century.[2]

Reception

Pitchfork described the song "I Need You" as "punky" and "still thrilling".[3] Rolling Stone put it in the "early ravers" in The Kinks catalogue.[4]

The Guardian characterized it as "libidinous".[5]

Personnel

According to Doug Hinman:[6]

The Kinks

Additional musicians

Notes

  1. ↑ Hinman writes Dave also "possibly [played] doubled rhythm [guitar]" on the track.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Hinman 2004, pp. 53, 56.
  2. ↑ Harrington, Joe S. Sonic Cool: The Life & Death of Rock 'n' Roll (2002), p. 165
  3. ↑ Joe Tangari (January 19, 2012). "Kinks in Mono – The Kinks". Pitchfork.
  4. ↑ Rob Sheffield. "How the Kinks Made Rock History With 'Waterloo Sunset'". Rolling Stone.
  5. ↑ "Dave Davies review – Barbed thread of Kinks legacy is pulled taut". The Guardian.
  6. 1 2 Hinman 2004, p. 56.

Sources

  • Hinman, Doug (2004). The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day-by-Day Concerts, Recordings and Broadcasts, 1961–1996. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-765-3.