Ten Songs You Might Not Know Are Covers: Got My Mind Set On You (#10)

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Yesterday I shocked the daylights out of Alfredo (@amadeo ) when I mentioned that Santana's major hit "Black Magic Woman" was actually a cover of a Fleetwood Mac song. That might have just shocked you, too. This was not the Stevie Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac, but the time when they were more of a blues band fronted by Peter Green (who wrote "Black Magic Woman") on guitar. So that got me thinking...what other songs are out there that a lot of people might not know are actually covers? I have a list! #10: Got My Mind Set on You In 1987 George Harrison scored his third and final #1 song in the US with "Got My Mind Set On You." It was catchy and a little lyrically boring (in fact, Weird Al's parody was titled, "This Song Is Just Six Words Long"!). But you can't blame that on "the Quiet Beatle." He didn't write the song. In 1962 James Ray originally recorded the song "I've Got My Mind Set on You." It was written by Rudy Clark, who also wrote Betty Everett's hit "The Shoop-Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)." According to Picky Wedia, Harrison purchased Ray's version of the song when the Beatles first visited America in 1964. Ray was a minor R&B singer, and his version of "Got My Mind Set On You" didn't make the pop charts (although it did chart in R&B). Harrison's cover was a worldwide smash. Got My Mind Set on You Written by Rudy Clark Originally recorded by James Ray, 1962 Famously covered by George Harrison, 1987 Here's James Ray's far less well-known version of the song: