The Tracks
1. Cloud 9 (Harrison) 3:16
2. That's What It Takes (Harrison/Lynne/Wright) 4:01
3. Fish On The Sand (Harrison) 3:24
4. Just For Today (Harrison) 4:06
5. This Is Love (Harrison/Lynne) 3:49
6. When We Was Fab (Harrison/Lynne) 4:00
7. Devil's Radio (Harrison) 3:54
8. Someplace Else (Harrison) 3:53
9. Wreck of the Hesperus (Harrison) 3:34
10. Breath Away From Heaven (Harrison) 3:36
11. Got My Mind Set On You (Harrison/R. Clark) 3:55
Album Overview
Absent from the music scene since his last studio album Gone Troppo in 1982, George Harrison returned quite nicely with the album Cloud Nine which was released in late 1987. The effort was a welcome return by one of his era's truly iconic figures. Harrison and many of his contemporaries were brushed aside and largely replaced by the New Wave and M-TV crowd during the early to mid-1980's.
ELO leader, Jeff Lynne, handled the co-production duties with Harrison and together they created a hybrid sound that borrowed from some of Lynne's work like Xanadu (1980) and Secret Messages (1983) in the early 1980's while blending in Harrison's classic guitar sound and often quirky lyrics.
Highlights
While the liner notes do not specify which musicians played on which songs, with a little careful listening, it is not difficult to spot the contributions by Eric Clapton and Elton John specifically.
1. Cloud Nine-The opening and title track to the album starts with a interwoven guitar section between Harrison and his mate Eric Clapton.
.........
The Players
George Harrison-guitars, keyboards
Jeff Lynne-guitars, bass, keyboards
Eric Clapton-guitar
Elton John-piano
Gary Wright-piano
Ringo Starr-drums
Jim Keltner-drums
Ray Cooper-percussion and drums
Jim Horn-baritone and tenor sax
Bobby Kok-cello
Production staff
George Harrison-producer
Jeff Lynne-producer
Richard Dodd-engineer
Brian Gardner-master engineer
Liner Notes
In the "special thanks" section, George thanks his wife, Olivia whom he refers to as "Olivia Trinidad", their son Dhani and John Paul & Ringo which was a nice touch especially with all of the legal battles that had occurred in the 1980's.
Multimedia
Cloud Nine Billboard album review
Gary Wright interview
Album link:
http://www.jpgr.co.uk/wx123.html
