It Was Just a Cover

My favorite video came on the telly this morning. OK, one of my favorites. I have lots, and yes I know I should step away from the tv, but when it's below the freezing point I find it extremely hard to concentrate on much of anything. Nope not been a lot of concentrating going on here lately.

Well, back to the video at hand, George Harrison's Got My Mind Set On You. This was pretty much Harrison's last hit single from the Cloud 9 record way back in 87. I used to faithfully watch Mtv to see this video that was in regular rotation. Can you believe that? A single released by an artist that wasn't fresh and new being played in regular rotation. Well hold onto your hats kidlets, Mtv used to have a Classic rock hour where they'd play videos by The Beatles, The Doors, The Stones...and yup you guessed it, The Moody Blues. I blame Mtv for my not getting into the Moody Blues sooner. Why? They always played Nights in White Satin on that Classic Mtv show.

Why is this bad? Have you seen that video? Have you seen Justin's hair?

~hides behind the sofa~

But really, there was something special about Got My Mind Set On You. It wasn't even a Harrison song. It was a song written by Rudy Clark back in the 50's. It was a comeback for Harrison who hadn't recorded much since Gone Troppo, around 1982. (which btw is quite a fun and funny album, worth listening to)

It was a song that had a lot of appeal, plus the video was quite cute. It made people stand up and take notice of him again. The world should have done that long before this, when he was recording on a far more regular basis.

He followed up this album, by forming the supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys. The Wilburys' were an impressive line up of artists, which besides Harrison, included, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. (Ok, Jeff Lynne isn't impressive, but the rest are)

It's funny how some of the biggest hits for some artists are covers. Sadly if you are really into 80's music you won't know George Harrison for classics like My Sweet Lord or even his touching tribute to Lennon, All Those Years Ago, you'll remember this little cover song, that brought him back into the spotlight.



I think this photo sums up the fun and the essence of George Harrison. For some reason, I'm missing his prescence in music more today than usual.