George Harrison, Cloud Nine (1987)
It’s been a big year for me and The Beatles – I’ve fallen in love with the band again and the solo careers of all its members, the big revelation has probably been just how much I really do love a lot of the John Lennon material (far more than I remembered). As for George Harrison – well, I got to spend an hour talking about his music on RNZ earlier this year; amazing! In fact I started the year playing one of the tracks from this album as part of a guest-curation of a Sydney radio station playlist. And my love for this album was rekindled last year, maybe even it was 2016. I got hooked on it all over again. It’s one of Harrison’s finest albums and the last studio effort released under his own name in his lifetime. It arrived after a semi-retirement and it essentially lays the groundwork for the Traveling Wilburys. It had a supergroup of its own at the core of it with Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Elton John and producer/player Jeff Lynne all heavily featured. And it contains some of George’s best songs, singing and playing. It’s a great driving album and a great anytime-album in fact. Just recently I found it on vinyl. Along with finding Jeff Lynne’s first solo album it made me very happy to collect this. Sad maybe. But true.

Sample Track: That’s What It Takes
The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown