By the time that the Beatles conquered America in 1964, Ray had succumbed to a drug overdose. To Ray and Clark's thinking, the tune had the makings of a surefire hit.īut it was not to be. Ray and Clark had scored a Top 10 showing the year before with "If You've Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody," and they were hoping to repeat their hitmaking formula with "I've Got My Mind Set on You." A jazzed-up version of the song, complete with vamping horn players and a gospel choir, also saw release that same year. In Harrison's memory, the LP was "really terrible," save for the song "I've Got My Mind Set on You," which had been composed by Rudy Clark. One of those "things" was 21-year-old James Ray's 1962 debut album. I bought Booker T and the MGs' first album, 'Green Onions,' and I bought some Bobby Bland, all kind of things." Louis in 1963, to look around, and to the countryside in Illinois, where my sister was living at the time. Harrison had first heard the song much earlier during his inaugural visit to the United States in September 1963 - some five months before the Beatles' bravura appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." As George later recalled, "I'd been to America before, being the experienced Beatle that I was.
Back in February 1988, the Quiet Beatle marked the occasion with a bona fide hit record, "Got My Mind Set on You," which was soaring among the American radio airwaves at the time. This week marks what would have been George Harrison's 77th birthday.