Got My Mind Set On You

[DarkSweetLady]

I always thought this video was completely HILLARIOUS! Not as amazing as Crackerbox Palace but still good.
My favorite part is when he jumps up and does a back flip it is so obviously not George which makes in 10 times funnier.

Whether he liked it or not, whose to say, but George. All I know is it probably pleased the public because it was hillarious.
And I like the squirrel playing the sax at the end. This video is just soooo funny!

[Hello Goodbye]

Well, you know what you like, and so do I. This song is a "miss" for me-- I don't care for it at all. Which shows once again how out of step I am with so many #1 tunes. I did think the video was cute in a surreal way, loved the fake George dancing, but wished so many of the critters didn't look so obviously dead and dried out.

Well, hh, you gotta listen to the song several times.  Then you'll like it just fine.  Who cares if it's just six words anyway?  

[Jane]

I like the song, it`s funny and merry and good for a little dancing. And George seems to be happy singing it, which warms my heart.

[harihead]

Well, hh, you gotta listen to the song several times.  Then you'll like it just fine.  Who cares if it's just six words anyway?  

Now, that is the version I have saved on my YouTube list!

Go, Weird Al.

[Penny Lane]

I do like this video, even if it is dorky and very 80's.  The very best part is "George" dancing...how very "Flashdance" of him!

[DarkSweetLady]

I agree PennyLane, the dancing is the best part!

[Hello Goodbye]

Well, here it is!  This is James Ray's 1962 recording of Got My Mind Set On You which inspired George Harrison....



Got My Mind Set On You James Ray

[Hello Goodbye]

I Got My Mind Set On You was written by Rudy Clark.  He also wrote The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss), If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody, Good Lovin', Everybody Plays The Fool and co-wrote Do The Monkey with Bobby Darin.

[Mairi]

Thank you so much for posting this!!!! It's amazing. Better than George- sorry all, but he totally white-ified an amazing soul song.

[Hello Goodbye]

You're welcome, Mairi.  A little calypso in there, huh?

For your listening pleasure, here's James Ray doing If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody in 1961:

If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody-James Ray-1961


And Freddie And The Dreamers doing it in 1965.  Paul McCartney, in an interview, said that they stole The Beatles' arrangement.  Evidently, The Beatles performed it one night in Manchester and by the next day, Freddie And The Dreamers had added it to their repertoire:

Freddie & The Dreamers - If You Gotta Make A Fool (1965)


And so The Beatles stopped doing covers.  Well, for a while anyway.  

[An Apple Beatle]

Thanks for the James Ray education. Class act.

[Mairi]

James Ray has a new fan!

[JimmyMcCullochFan]

I used to like this song a lot but it gets old for me after awhile.

[Unknown Delight]

Same here..but now that i have exposed myself to the sprawling diversity of George's OTHER efforts, when i come back to this song i find i don't really want to hear it!

It is VERY repetitive..but still a fun song.  The music video for it makes it even more enjoyable..and it is what i remember immediately upon hearing it.  It also has a shred of meaning in another way - This was the song that 'introduced' me to George.

My how much i have learned from him since then....

[Hello Goodbye]

Thanks for the James Ray education. Class act.

You're welcome, Cor.  Yes, he was.

James Ray has a new fan!

Unfortunately, James Ray's great talent shone all too briefly.  He passed away in 1964.  His is an interesting story having been discovered in 1961, homeless and living on a Washington DC rooftop.  Rudy Clark wrote many of the songs which appeared on his only album James Ray.

Rudy Clark wrote Good Lovin' for The Olympics in 1965....

Olympics - Good Lovin'



....which (you guessed it) was covered by The Young Rascals in 1966:

GOOD LOVIN'_The Young Rascals