cloud nine

George Harrison shared his highs and had a major comeback with the accomplished elation of this focused return to form. 'Cloud Nine' was his first album after a five year hiatus. Discouraged by the music industry, Harrison had finished up his contract with 'Gone Troppo' in 1982 and withdrawn from recording. Harrison would later reflect:   "Sometimes when you make a record and it's not successful, you just don't want to go through that process for a while. You want to have your wounds heal. I got a bit tired of it, to tell you the truth. It's one thing making a record, but if nobody plays it on the radio, what's the point of spending months in the studio?"



By the end of 1986, Harrison had written some new material and was ready to start recording again. He invited Jeff Lynne to co-produce the sessions with him at his Friar Park Studio at Henley-on-Thames. Harrison explained:   "He's a guitarist, he's a songwriter, he's had his success. Just from the records, I thought he would be good, if we got on together. It was really a question of finding somebody to get in touch with him and then meeting with him, without saying, 'Well, look, right down the line from now I'm going to try to make a record, and you're it' — and frighten the fellow away. But that was in the back of my mind."

Harrison and Lynne met in January of 1987 and laid down basic tracks for seventeen songs and gradually brought in other musicians. The credits on 'Cloud Nine' include George Harrison on vocals, guitars, keyboards, and sitar; Jeff Lynne on vocals, guitars, keyboards, and bass; Eric Clapton on guitar; Elton John and Gary Wright on piano; Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner on drums; Ray Cooper on percussion and drums; Jim Horn on baritone and tenor sax; Bobby Kok on cello; and Vicki Brown on vocals.

Harrison considered:   "The Beatles were a little unit on their own. We grew up together, we played all our apprenticeship together in Liverpool and Germany. We completely understood each other. Having Jeff Lynne, for me it was like 'Now I'm back in a group.' We share responsibilities, we share ideas. Ringo is like myself with the guitar.  I don't play it that often. I don't practice. Ringo may not play the drums from one year to the next, but when he picks up his sticks and gets his drum skins tightened right, he'll just rock and play just like he played in the old days."

'Cloud Nine' became his best selling album since 'All Things Must Pass', going platinum and reaching number twenty-eight in Japan, twenty-seven in New Zealand, twenty-six in Austria, twenty-three in Switzerland, fifteen in Germany, ten in Australia and the UK, eight in Norway and the US, and number five in Sweden. It would be the last solo album he released during his lifetime.






http://www.georgeharrison.com/









'Got My Mind Set on You' went to number eleven in Switzerland, ten in Norway and Sweden, eight in Austria, seven in Germany, two in the UK, and number one in Canada and the US. 





'When We Was Fab' went to number forty in Germany, twenty-five in the UK, twenty-three in the US, twenty in Canada, ten on the US adult contemporary chart, and number two on the US mainstream rock tracks chart.










'Cloud Nine'
full album:


All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

Side one
"Cloud 9" – 3:15
"That's What It Takes" (Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Gary Wright) – 3:59
"Fish on the Sand" – 3:22
"Just for Today" – 4:06
"This Is Love" (Harrison, Lynne) – 3:48
"When We Was Fab" (Harrison, Lynne) – 3:57
Side two
"Devil's Radio" – 3:52
"Someplace Else" – 3:51
"Wreck of the Hesperus" – 3:31
"Breath Away from Heaven" – 3:36
"Got My Mind Set on You" (Rudy Clark) – 3:52

Bonus tracks
"Shanghai Surprise" – 5:09
"Zig Zag" (Harrison, Lynne) – 2:45