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Cloud Nine (George Harrison album)

Cloud Nine
Studio album by
George Harrison
Released2 November 1987 (1987-11-02)
RecordedJanuary–August 1987
StudioFPSHOT (Oxfordshire)
Genre
Length41:25
LabelDark Horse
Producer
George Harrison chronology
Gone Troppo
(1982) 		Cloud Nine
(1987) 		Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989
(1989)
Singles from Cloud Nine
  1. "Got My Mind Set on You"
    Released: 12 October 1987
  2. "When We Was Fab"
    Released: 25 January 1988
  3. "This Is Love"
    Released: 13 June 1988

Cloud Nine is the eleventh studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison. The album was recorded and released in 1987 after Harrison had taken a five-year hiatus from his career as a solo artist. The hit single "Got My Mind Set on You" from this album re-established Harrison as a critically acclaimed and commercially significant recording artist. Cloud Nine was Harrison's final solo studio album to be released during his lifetime; his next album Brainwashed was released in 2002, almost a year after his death.

Background and recording

Frustrated with the changing musical climate, Harrison suspended his recording career in the early 1980s. Instead of recording, he opted to pursue other interests, including film production with his own company, Handmade Films. The odd soundtrack or charity song would surface during this period, but otherwise, it was a musically silent period for Harrison.

By late 1986, after a substantial break, Harrison felt the desire to make music again. He asked former Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) leader and fellow musician Jeff Lynne to co-produce a new album with him. After writing a round of new compositions (including the songs already contributed to the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise), Harrison entered his home studio Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames on 5 January 1987 to begin recording his first new commercial album in five years. Having recorded the backing tracks for seventeen songs between January and March, he completed the album's overdubs in August 1987.[1]

Besides Harrison and Lynne, other artists involved in the sessions included Jim Keltner and Ringo Starr on drums, Eric Clapton on guitar, and both Gary Wright and Elton John on piano (the latter was recovering from vocal surgery at the time). With new-found enthusiasm, Harrison actively promoted the album.

Cover art

The cover features Harrison's first American-made guitar, a 1957 Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet that he purchased in Liverpool in 1961. He gave his "old black Gretsch" to his longtime friend Klaus Voormann, who had it for 20 years before Harrison asked for it back. After having it restored, Harrison used the guitar for the Cloud Nine cover shoot.[2][3]

Release and aftermath

Harrison's cover of Rudy Clark's little-known song "Got My Mind Set on You" quickly reached number 1 in the United States and number 2 in the United Kingdom. It was Harrison's first single to top the US charts since "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" in 1973. A few weeks later, Cloud Nine was released to high anticipation and a favourable critical reception.

The album went to No. 10 in the UK. In the US, it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 4 on the Cash Box Top 200, and achieved platinum status; later, it was number 1 on Cash Box's Top 40 Compact Discs chart.[4]

The "Got My Mind Set on You" single and its accompanying video re-introduced Harrison to the mainstream, and the Beatles tribute song "When We Was Fab" was a successful follow-up, reaching the top 25 in both the UK and US. The third single taken from the album, "This Is Love", was a minor hit in the UK.

While the success of Cloud Nine was not enough to spur Harrison to tour, it inspired him to continue making music. In the spring of 1988, along with Lynne, he would call up friends Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison and begin a project ultimately realised as the Traveling Wilburys.

In 2004, Cloud Nine was remastered and reissued by Dark Horse Records (with new distribution by EMI), both separately, and as part of the deluxe box set The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992. The reissue included the bonus tracks "Shanghai Surprise" and "Zig Zag" from the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise ("Zig Zag" had also been released as the B-side of the "When We Was Fab" single).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Houston Chronicle[7]
Los Angeles Times[8]
Mojo[9]
MusicHound Rock4/5[10]
New Musical Express6/10[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Uncut[13]
The Village VoiceB−[14]

Writing in Rolling Stone, David Wild described Cloud Nine as "an expertly crafted, endlessly infectious record that constitutes Harrison's best album since 1970s inspired All Things Must Pass". Wild also acknowledged Lynne's input as co-producer and praised "When We Was Fab", "Cloud 9", "That's What It Takes", and "Wreck of the Hesperus" as "sublime pop".[15] In The New York Times, Stephen Holden called the release "crucial" to Harrison's career, adding: "A pleasingly tuneful album, its sound is deliberately quaint, as it explicitly evokes the Beatles' more romantic psychedelic music of the late 1960s."[16] Although he regretted the inclusion of ballads such as "Breath Away from Heaven", Bill Holdship wrote in Creem that "a good album's a good album, and Cloud Nine is plenty good … it's the best record from a former Beatle in at least seven years."[17]

Less impressed, Daniel Brogan of the Chicago Tribune opined: "Cloud Nine plods hopelessly. Most of the blame must fall on Harrison, though producer Jeff Lynne's influence is far too prevalent ... The album is occasionally redeemed by the deft guitar interplay between Harrison and Eric Clapton, as well as the perky single 'Got My Mind Set on You.'"[18] In a five-star review for the Houston Chronicle, J.D. Considine wrote: "Forget the 'former Beatle' stuff – this album would be worth snapping up even if Harrison were some unknown from Encino." After remarking on Harrison's "stellar" cast of backing musicians, Considine added: "But as much as the playing enlivens the material, as with the dark, bluesy guitar riffs that open the title tune, it's the writing that deserves credit for this album's luster."[7]

In a 2001 review, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine also gave the album five stars. He wrote that, with Lynne's help and "the focus on … snappy pop-rock numbers", Harrison "crafted a remarkably consistent and polished comeback effort with Cloud Nine", which Erlewine considered "one of his very best albums".[19] In his 2002 posthumous appraisal of Harrison's solo career for Goldmine magazine, Dave Thompson described the album as "littered with highlights", calling "This Is Love" "a jewel", and wrote that "When We Was Fab" benefited from Lynne "wringing every last Beatle-esque effect out of his box of sonic tricks".[20]

Reviewing the 2004 reissue, Uncut described Cloud Nine as "endowed with undeniable charm",[13] and Rolling Stone deemed it to be a "late-career masterwork" from Harrison.[12] Writing for Mojo in 2011, John Harris found the production dated, but praised the quality of the songs, including the "splendidly gonzo version" of "Got My Mind Set on You" and the "irresistible" "When We Was Fab", and considered Cloud Nine a "deserved global hit".[9]

Track listing

All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

Original release

Side one

  1. "Cloud 9" – 3:15
  2. "That's What It Takes" (Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Gary Wright) – 3:59
  3. "Fish on the Sand" – 3:22
  4. "Just for Today" – 4:06
  5. "This Is Love" (Harrison, Lynne) – 3:48
  6. "When We Was Fab" (Harrison, Lynne) – 3:57

Side two

  2. "Devil's Radio" – 3:52
  3. "Someplace Else" – 3:51
  4. "Wreck of the Hesperus" – 3:31
  5. "Breath Away from Heaven" – 3:36
  6. "Got My Mind Set on You" (Rudy Clark) – 3:52

2004 reissue

Bonus tracks

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

iTunes Store bonus track:

  2. "Got My Mind Set on You (Extended Version)" (Clark) – 5:17

Personnel

The following is taken from the 2004 CD liner notes,[21] except where noted.

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (Oricon Charts) — 73,700[43]
United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Gold 190,000[40]
United States (RIAA)[45] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium, 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ISBN 0-615-11724-4), p. 469.
  2. ^ harrison3, archived from the original on 1 March 2014, retrieved 21 June 2014
  3. ^ "George Harrison and the Gretsch Duo Jet". Gretsch. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  4. ^ Cash Box staff (23 January 1988). "Sounds & Visions". Cash Box. p. 16.
  5. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "George Harrison Cloud Nine". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  6. ^ Colin Larkin, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th edn), Volume 4, Oxford University Press (New York, NY, 2006; ISBN 0-19-531373-9), p. 158.
  7. ^ a b Considine, J.D. (6 December 1987). "Records". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  8. ^ Hochman, Steve (1 November 1987). "Beatle Emeritus". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  9. ^ a b John Harris, "Beware of Darkness", Mojo, November 2011, p. 83.
  10. ^ Gary Graff & Daniel Durchholz (eds), MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ISBN 1-57859-061-2), p. 529.
  11. ^ Taylor, Neil (14 November 1987). "George Harrison: Cloud Nine". New Musical Express. p. 35.
  12. ^ a b "George Harrison – Cloud Nine CD Album" > Product description Archived 20 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. CD Universe/Muze. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  13. ^ a b Kit Aiken, "All Those Years Ago: George Harrison The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992", Uncut, April 2004, p. 118.
  14. ^ Christgau, Robert (29 December 1987). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018 – via robertchristgau.com.
  15. ^ Wild, David (3 December 1987). "George Harrison Cloud Nine". Rolling Stone. p. 80. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  16. ^ Holden, Stephen (8 November 1987). "Pop View: Rock Grows Up, Gracefully and Otherwise". The New York Times. p. H29. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  17. ^ Holdship, Bill (March 1988). "George Harrison: Cloud Nine". Creem. Available at Rock's Backpages Archived 9 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine (subscription required).
  18. ^ Brogan, Daniel (20 November 1987). "A More Down-to-earth Approach For Earth, Wind And Fire". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  19. ^ Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra & Stephen Thomas Erlewine (eds), All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music (4th edn), Backbeat Books (San Francisco, CA, 2001; ISBN 0-87930-627-0), p. 182.
  20. ^ Dave Thompson, "The Music of George Harrison: An album-by-album guide", Goldmine, 25 January 2002, p. 53.
  21. ^ Cloud Nine (CD booklet). George Harrison. Dark Horse Records. 2004. pp. 3, 7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ^ a b c d e Huntley, Elliot J. (2006). Mystical One: George Harrison – After the Break-up of the Beatles. Toronto, ON: Guernica Editions. p. 205. ISBN 1-55071-197-0.
  23. ^ Leng, Simon (2006). While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. pp. 247–48, 253–55. ISBN 978-1-4234-0609-9.
  24. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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  27. ^ "dutchcharts.nl George Harrison - Cloud Nine" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  28. ^ "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - The Beatles" (in Japanese). 30 December 2007. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
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  34. ^ "George Harrison Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  35. ^ "Cash Box Top 200 Albums". Cash Box. 16 January 1988. p. 12.
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  37. ^ "Highest position and charting weeks of Cloud Nine (reissue) by George Harrison". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  38. ^ "Los discos más vendidos de la semana". Diario de Cultura. Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  39. ^ "Top 100 Albums of '87". RPM. 26 December 1987. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  40. ^ a b "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  41. ^ "日本で売れた洋楽アルバムトップ23 (Top-23 international albums on the Japanese Oricon Year-End Charts 1980". Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2007.
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  45. ^ "American album certifications – George Harrison – Cloud Nine". Recording Industry Association of America.
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