Burning The Ground Exclusive 1987
“Got My Mind Set on You” (also written as “(Got My Mind) Set on You”) is a song written and composed by Rudy Clark and originally recorded by James Ray in 1962.
In 1987, George Harrison released a cover version of the song on his album Cloud Nine, which he had recorded on his Dark Horse Records label.
The first time Harrison heard the song was during a visit to his sister in the United States in 1963–five months before the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. His sister lived in the countryside of Illinois. While there, Harrison visited record shops and bought a variety of albums. One was James Ray’s 1962 album that contained the song “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You.” In January 1987, Harrison began recording the song at his Friar Park home studio, with Jeff Lynne (ELO) producing and playing bass and keyboards, Jim Keltner on drums, Jim Horn on sax, and Ray Cooper on percussion.
Of Harrison’s three number-one singles in the US, it was the only song not written or composed by Harrison himself. Not only was it the last US No. 1 hit by Harrison, but, as of 2022, his last top 10 hit in the US. When the song hit No. 1, it broke a three-way tie between Harrison, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr, all of whom had two No. 1 hit singles as solo artists (discounting Paul McCartney’s work with Wings). It also happened to be the No. 1 single in the US the week immediately preceding the induction of the Beatles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making Harrison one of the few inductees to have an active single on the US record charts at the time of induction. Billboard ranked the song as No. 3 for 1988.
The single’s B-side is “Lay His Head”, a remixed version of the unreleased song from Harrison’s originally intended Somewhere in England album. The 12-inch version of the single also adds an extended version of “Got My Mind Set on You”.
In the UK, the single spent four weeks at number two. It was kept off the number 1 spot by T’Pau’s “China in Your Hand” becoming the 5th best selling single of 1987.
SIDE A:
Got My Mind Set On You (Extended Version) 5:19
Engineer – Bill Bottrell
Producer – Jeff Lynne
Written-By –Rudy Clark
SIDE B:
Got My Mind Set On You (Single Version) 3:51
Producer – Jeff Lynne
Written-By –Rudy Clark
Lay His Head 3:51
Producer – Ray Cooper
Written-By – George Harrison
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Got My Mind Set On You | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #1 |
| 1987 | Got My Mind Set On You | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 1987 | Got My Mind Set On You | U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | #4 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Dark Horse Records – 920 802-0
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: Europe
Released: 1987
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock
CREDITS:
- Design – Gabrielle Raumberger
- Photography By – Gered Mankowitz
- Producer – George Harrison
NOTES:
Manufactured in Germany by Record Service GmbH. Alsdorf.
From the LP “CLOUD NINE”
Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!
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Thanks Paul (even if belatedly)!
Do you also have the When We Was Fab 12″ or CD single? I’d love to see that here too!
I’ve been looking for this for a long time, but sadly, there are issues at 3:53 and 4:44 on the extended mix.
So lovely of you Bob to comment only to point out something negative. Not even so much as a thank you to Paul for his arduous work presenting rare tracks to us. I have listened several times and do not hear what you are hearing.
Thank you for your reply Beatlesfan4ever. I’m sorry you feel I have not praised Paul sufficiently on this occasion – not every post has to give glowing praise. I have thanked Paul in the past for his work. Your assistance with this matter has allowed me to narrow down the issue. I am only seeing it in the 24bit version, and only in VLC. I had previously confirmed the file downloaded and extracted correctly (RAR has checksums, so this would’ve been apparent in the first instance). This could point to an issue on Paul’s side, which I’m sure he would… Read more »
Ahhhh! Thanks a ton for this!!
Unbelievable this was kept at #2 in the UK because of T’Pau’s “China in Your Hand”, a song I’ve never heard before and wasn’t a hit in the US. The UK has an entire list of famous #2s…like “Vienna” by Ultravox (an amazing song that wasn’t a US hit) that was kept off the #1 spot by “Shaddap You Face” by Joe Dolce of all songs.
I love T’Pau! Still to this day! “China in Your Hand” was probably too controversial for Regan’s America (even though the song has nothing to do with the country China … lol… it’s about Mary Shelley). Their prior song “Heart and Soul” went to number 4 in the US. The same happened with Peter Gabriel’s “Biko” and Simple Minds’ “Belfast Child“. “Biko” was a hit in Europe, but wasn’t even released as a single in the US. “Belfast Child” went to Number 1 in most countries, but wasn’t released as a single in the US (the B-sides Mandela Day and… Read more »
When I was involved with hosting the radio record promotion reps, they all had a common slogan:
“If it’s a hit in the UK, it’ll be the kiss of death in the US”.
McCartney’s “Mull Of Kintyre” ihas to be the poster child for that saying!
Interesting! Never heard that before, but UK charts seem to differ quite a bit from US charts, especially in the 80s.
Thank you, Paul! This song was so huge back in the day and the Extended version sounded awesome at the time. In fact, the entire album was amazing and didn’t sound like it was from an “old” artist from the 60s! But I had no idea it was a cover. Gonna have to track the original down now! Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re very welcome, Martika. 🙂
Thanks so much, Paul! It’s been a very, very long time since I heard this Extended Mix! It’s interesting hearing a 1987 remix that has the stereo imaging problems of much earlier remixes. It’s hard to explain but if you listen to the horn riff (with headphones on) from 0:27 to 0:34 the horns sound “off in the distance” and in mono compared to the rest of the music. Shep Pettibone’s early mixes (pre-1987) had this problem but I’m shocked the studios would let this pass a)in 1987 and b)with George! Anyway, critiques aside from the remix engineering, this is… Read more »
You’re welcome, Fred. Have an awesome weekend 🙂
Fascinating commentary, Fred. I’ll have to check this out. You are quite remarkable with what you know and your immense “phonographic” memory.
Have a fabulous weekend!!
Jeff
Fred, you bring up a classic problem with stereo recordings: I could write a book about this “mono compatibility” issue that plagued mid-to late 60s hits and albums (i.e. Hendrix, The Beatles, etc) where the main focus was the mono version where an artist would spend days mixing it because most households didn’t have stereo turntables or systems for a long time. The stereo version of the same album was often mixed hastily in a fraction of the time by a junior engineer without artist involvement, or listening how it “folded” /”summed” when heard on mono AM, FM, and other… Read more »
Thanks for the insight Fred! I think that’s news to a lot of us here. Have a great weekend!
This is fantastic!! What a cap to an excellent week! And what a comeback for George Harrison. I remember this all over the radio and the video in heavy rotation on MTV. I’m sure no one expected George Harrison to have a No. 1 hit single in the US in 1987, least of all George! Thank you so much Paul, I’ve had this 12 inch, but I’m really looking forward to your new transfer! On a side note, who ever would’ve thought MTV would completely turn their backs on music and everything that made them the cultural icon they were… Read more »
I agree MTV should do some re-branding for sure. I also remember this track being everywhere in 87. Have a great weekend 🙂
I so agree with you concerning “Music Television.” I hate what MTV has become. I so wish I had the disposable funds to create a channel that would play music videos all the time. I think it would be successful.
Have a great weekend!!
Jeff
Another sign that we’re getting old: millennials probably don’t know what MTV is. That ship sailed long ago. Also, save your money for retirement, Jeff. We already have a channel that plays music videos all the time. It’s called YouTube. 🙂
Agreed dj xrey. To millennials MTV is probably Pimp My Ride and the like… Yikes! I will add, MTV was more than just videos. It had artist interviews, exclusive concerts, guest VJ’s, contests, world premiere videos, live coverage of Live Aid, behind the scenes, making of videos, etc., etc. Not to mention video directors who treated the medium as artistically as Hollywood films. Ah, what a concept.
AMEN!! Retro Hound!! Very well said!
Jeff
Your comment made me smile. But I do miss a music video channel because they’d expose me to stuff I wouldn’t normally hear on the radio. And like Retro Hound pointed out, there was so much more than just playing video hits. I still believe there would be an audience that would appreciate and love what the old channel did!!
Jeff
If disposable funds come our way I’ll invest in that music channel with you! I think we would need to base it in Europe, as that is where all the good new music seems to originate! Enjoy your weekend!
Love this idea more than you’ll ever know!! You and some of the others in this beautiful community I’d love to see as VJs!!!
Jeff
thanks!
You’re welcome, John 🙂
I get excited because here is another example of a 12-inch version I wasn’t aware of. Thank you, Paul, for these rare mixes. Very cool that Jeff Lynne was involved!!
Have a nice weekend, Paul, Song And Dance, Retro Hound, Fred, Martika and the rest!!
Jeff
I hope you enjoy this one, Jeff. Have a nice weekend 🙂
Wow! Thank you. When this came out I was 16 and had little experience with the Beatles. I was a fan of McCartney and Lennon’s hit songs of the early/mid 80s, but I knew very little pre-1980 material by any of them. But – I was a huge fan of ELO, and thus Jeff Lynne, so that was the original draw here for me. Over time I grew to love Harrison’s music very much; I wished he would have made more albums in the 80s and 90s, as he seemed to have found his songwriting voice again after a few… Read more »
You’re welcome, 🙂
WOW!!!!! Thanks!!!!
You’re welcome 🙂