This was written by Rudy Clark and originally recorded by James Ray in 1962. Harrison bought a copy of the single in the summer of 1963 when visiting his sister Louise in Illinois. Many years later when he was writing his Cloud Nine album, he remembered the song and decided to cover it.
Cloud Nine was Harrison's comeback album. He hadn't had a hit since 1981 with "All Those Years Ago," and his previous US #1 was "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" in 1973. Until the Beach Boys released "Kokomo," Harrison had the record for longest span between #1 hits. "Got My Mind Set On You," however, was his last single to chart.
Harrison's previous album was Gone Troppo, which was released in 1982 and flopped. Proving that he could whip up a hit when he wanted to, he released this very simplistic cover song and it was a huge commercial success. A lot of Harrison's work was well off the mainstream, using unusual instruments and based on Indian music. "Got My Mind Set On You" proved that he could release a song requiring very little thought and send it up the charts. Predictably, many of Harrison's ardent followers can't stand this song.
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