"Cloud Nine" is the eleventh studio album by English rock musician George Harrison, released in 1987 after a five-year hiatus from his solo career. The album's hit single "Got My Mind Set on You" helped re-establish Harrison as a significant recording artist. It was his final solo studio album released during his lifetime; his next album, Brainwashed, came out in 2002, nearly a year after his death.
Frustrated with the changing music scene, Harrison had suspended his recording career in the early 1980s to pursue film production through his company, Handmade Films. During this time, he occasionally released soundtracks or charity songs, but overall it was a quiet period musically. By late 1986, Harrison felt a renewed desire to create music and asked former Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne to co-produce a new album. After writing several new songs, including contributions to the film Shanghai Surprise, he began recording at his home studio, Friar Park, on January 5, 1987. Between January and March, he recorded backing tracks for seventeen songs, completing overdubs by August.
Along with Harrison and Lynne, other musicians involved in the album included drummers Jim Keltner and Ringo Starr, guitarist Eric Clapton, and pianists Gary Wright and Elton John, the latter recovering from vocal surgery at the time. With newfound enthusiasm, Harrison actively promoted the album.
The cover art features Harrison's first American-made guitar, a 1957 Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet that he bought in Liverpool in 1961. After asking for it back from his friend Klaus Voormann, who had kept it for 20 years, Harrison had it restored for the album cover shoot.
Harrison's cover of Rudy Clark's song "Got My Mind Set on You" quickly climbed to number one in the US and number two in the UK, marking his first US chart-topper since "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" in 1973. Cloud Nine was released shortly after to high anticipation and received favorable critical reception. The album peaked at No. 10 in the UK and reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200 in the US, achieving platinum status. It also topped Cash Box's Top 40 Compact Discs chart.
The success of "Got My Mind Set on You" and its accompanying video reintroduced Harrison to mainstream audiences, while the Beatles tribute song "When We Was Fab" followed, reaching the top 25 in both the UK and US. The third single, "This Is Love," had a more modest performance in the UK.
While the success of Cloud Nine did not lead Harrison to tour, it inspired him to continue making music. In spring 1988, along with Lynne, he contacted friends Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison, culminating in the formation of the Traveling Wilburys.
In 2004, Cloud Nine was remastered and reissued by Dark Horse Records, including bonus tracks "Shanghai Surprise" and "Zig Zag," from the Shanghai Surprise film, the latter also having been a B-side for the "When We Was Fab" single.
