Got My Mind Set on You

George Harrison version

| B-side = Lay His Head 5:17 (extended)

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 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 producing and playing bass and keyboards, Jim Keltner on drums, Jim Horn on sax, and Ray Cooper on percussion.

It was released on October 12, 1987, in the US. 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, , the last time a former Beatle hit No. 1 in either the US or UK as a solo artist. 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 (Paul McCartney had three solo No. 1 singles and an additional six 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 an unreleased song originally intended for Harrison's 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, it was released on October 16, and spent four weeks at number two. It became the 5th best selling single of 1987.

The song was included in the Harrison compilation albums Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 (1989) and Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison (2009).

A live version was recorded for his Live in Japan (1992) album.

In 2010, AOL radio listeners chose "Got My Mind Set on You" as one of the 10 Best George Harrison Songs, appearing at number 4 on the list.

Music videos

Two music videos were released for the single, both directed by Gary Weis. The first features a young man (played by Alexis Denisof) trying to win the heart of a girl in an amusement arcade. While the girl watches Harrison and his band (including Jeff Lynne on bass and Ray Cooper miming the saxophone) in a kinetoscope movie viewer, the young man tries to win a toy ballerina for the girl. He succeeds, but the ballerina somehow drops into Harrison's performance, to the girl's amusement.

The second video, inspired by the then-recently released comedy horror film Evil Dead II, depicts Harrison playing a blonde-colored Fender Telecaster guitar while seated in a study. As the song progresses, furniture and knick-knacks (including a stuffed squirrel, sentient chainsaw, a suit of armor, and mounted stag and warthog) begin to sing or dance along with the song. During the instrumental break, Harrison performs a backflip from his chair and follows it with a dance routine before jumping back to his seat, a scene performed by a dance double. The video was choreographed by Vincent Paterson.

The second video received significant airplay and was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Andrew Jackson and Mix

• George Harrison – lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
• Jeff Lynne – backing vocals, Oberheim OB-X synthesizer, E-mu Emulator II, bass guitar
• Jim Keltner – drums, E-mu Drumulator programming
• Jim Horn – saxophones
• Ray Cooper – maracas

Track listings

7-inch

1. "Got My Mind Set on You" – 3:51
2. "Lay His Head" – 3:51

12-inch

1. "Got My Mind Set on You" (Extended Version) – 5:17
2. "Got My Mind Set on You" – 3:51
3. "Lay His Head" – 3:51

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other covers and parodies

"Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a parody of "Got My Mind Set On You", using George Harrison's arrangement, titled "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long". It was released on Yankovic's 1988 album Even Worse and poked fun at the repetitive lyrics of the original.

Shakin' Stevens recorded the song for his 2006 album Now Listen. Irish-Australian singer-songwriter Damien Leith recorded the song in 2012 for his album Now & Then. Irish singer Lee Matthews covered it in his 2015 album It's a Great Day to Be Alive. British entertainer and musician Warren James performed the song following his 2003 live performance for the show business charity the Grand Order of Water Rats, an organisation that Harrison was an active member of. Brandon Flowers recorded the song in 2014 for the 2016 tribute album George Fest.

References

References

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