His early singles 'If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody' and 'Itty Bitty Pieces' gave him US chart success and a high level of credibility in the UK, where both were covered successfully in the Beat Group era. His original recording of 'I've Got My Mind Set On You' brought one of his biggest fans, ex-Beatle George Harrison, back to the top of the US and US charts in the late 1980s, almost 25 years after George bought James's lone LP on a personal trip to the US before Beatlemania arrived there.