George Harrison – Cloud 9

This song was the title track of Georges 1987’s superb album. Song starts off with Harrison and Clapton trading licks and George matches him with his slide guitar. George was not a virtuoso type of guitar player but he was one of the best slide guitarists in the business. Guitar players are still trying to get his tone.

George wasn’t a self-indulgent guitar player…he always played for the song and always gave the song what it needed.

I love the blues-tone that Jeff Lynne got out of this production. He emphasized the bass drum and the bass to make it sound grounded.

Although the album was titled Cloud Nine, Harrison decided to use the numeric “9” in the song’s title to avoid confusion with the Temptations’ 1968 hit song “Cloud Nine.”

The song wasn’t released as a single but it’s a great-sounding song. This album marked a huge comeback for George. This album peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, and #10 in the UK in 1988.

After this album, George formed the Travelin Wilburys.

Cloud 9

Have my love
It fits you like a glove
Join my dream, tell me yes
Bail out should there be a mess
The pieces you don’t need are mine

Take my time
I’ll show you cloud nine
Take my smile and my heart
They were yours from the start
The pieces to omit are mine

Have my love
Use it while it does you good
Share my highs but the times
That it hurts pay no mind
The pieces you don’t need are mine

I’ll see you there on cloud nine

Take my hope
Maybe even share a joke
If there’s good to be shown
You may make it all your own
And if you want to quit that’s fine
While you’re out looking for cloud nine

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

19 thoughts on “George Harrison – Cloud 9”

  3. I always enjoyed this album and was really happy for George that it marked a comeback for him. I agree with everything you noted about his guitar playing. It was much more about his great tone than virtuosity. And, as you noted, the album led to The Traveling Wilburys!

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    1. LOL… Yea I got this one and Keith Richards Talk Is Cheap, The Wilburys close to each other. I rotated all three for a while.

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  5. A good one, and an overdue return for George! I happened upon a clip of him with Paul Simon (I think it was an old SNL appearance) from the ’70s on some random tv channel that was playing a Paul simon special. Would have been nice to hear those two work together on a record.

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    1. It’s up there with his best albums. It was a great comeback for him at the time and this lead to the Wilburys…it’s worth getting.

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    1. I was so happy to hear from him at the time…his previous album “Gone Troppo” wasn’t the best to me.

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