Song · The Who
“I'm Free” by The Who
From the album Tommy (1969)
“I'm Free” by The Who appears on 15 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1994 and 2022. It was first released in 1969 on the album Tommy. Its best result is #312 on the KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,390 indie & aaa song of all time.
Pete Townshend wrote "I'm Free", the Who put it on Tommy, their 1969 album, and Townshend has said it came partly out of the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man": once he'd cracked that song's odd time and shape, he found it almost too simple to believe, and he wanted a go at it himself. Roger Daltrey sings lead, Kit Lambert produced, Chris Stamp was executive producer and Damon Lyon-Shaw engineered.
The drums are the odd part. Keith Moon heard the intro differently and couldn't nail it the way Townshend wanted, John Entwistle recalled, so Townshend and Entwistle laid down the snare, hi-hat and tambourine themselves and Moon came in only for the breaks. The trouble followed them onstage, where the pair cued Moon with giant, exaggerated steps. It later came out as a single and has become one of the best-known songs on Tommy.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 499 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) | 1000 |
| 1995 | 521 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) | 1000 |
| 1996 | 582 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) | 1000 |
| 1998 | 702 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) | 1000 |
| 1999 | 673 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) | 998 |
| 2007 | 813 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2011 | 367 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 370 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2013 | 319 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) | 500 |
| 2013 | 642 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) | 1000 |
| 2014 | 907 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2015 | 645 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) | 1007 |
| 2020 | 1296 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2020 | 312 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) | 1025 |
| 2022 | 313 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) | 1025 |
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