Photo by Luiz Fernando Reis (Bealtes cor 36 on Flickr) Creative Commons License -https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
February 18, 1964.
Just days earlier, the Beatles had just broken big in America. And they were creating huge waves of news with their every move.
The Beatles seemed to have a chance to meet the participants of a huge fight that was about to take place between heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, and upstart challenger Cassius Clay, who would come to be known soon as Muhammad Ali.
Liston was in the audience for their appearance at the Ed Sullivan Show
Now they were in Florida, soaking up the sun and relaxing after a second Ed Sullivan show appearance. The boys requested to meet the world heavyweight champ- the surly, misanthropic Sonny Liston. But Liston quickly replied that he had no desire to meet “those bums.”
Interestingly, Liston was in the crowd watching their second Ed Sullivan appearance on Feb. 16th. Nevertheless, he was not exactly a “fan” calling them “sissies” and saying, “My dog can play drums better than that guy”- referring to Ringo.
So clearly, the Beatles would not get to meet Liston. Liston believed himself to be an unstoppable boxer, and he also clearly did not think much of the Beatles as a band. The Beatles would not meet Liston, and had to settle for the challenger, who at that point, seemed destined to lose by knockout, according to most people. Obviously, things would turn out very differently, and it was Clay/Ali who actually would become a legend far bigger than Liston. Liston would also be proven wrong in his judgement of the Beatles, as well, as they became music legends in their own right.
The Beatles were expecting the boxer to be a big, dumb jock. But Clay/Ali was far from that, much to their surprise and apparent horror.
Here is some of how that meeting went down:
Clay was training at the Fifth Street gym and the Beatles casually marched in. Clay was cordial at first, calling them “the greatest” and saying they “shook up the world.” He reportedly also called Paul McCartney, “The prettiest, but not as pretty as me!”
But soon, the general tone changed and it was clear who the real “star” of the show was. The Fab Four and Clay posed for several photo ops, during which Clay brusquely ordering them around. The Beatles obeyed and seemed to take it all in good humor.
Clay posed over them as the Beatles laid flat on the ground. (John Lennon comically praying in the photo.)
It got slightly uncomfortable when Clay barked “Squirm, you worms!” to the surprised quartet. Finally, as the boys were getting ready to leave, Clay picked up Ringo and tossed him up in the air a bit, then caught him.
Clay then wished Ringo and the others good luck.
He even recited a trademark poem: “When Liston reads about the Beatles visiting me, he’ll get so mad I’ll knock him out in three!”
According to the Beatles’ famed photographer, Harry Benson, who set up the meeting, the boys did not enjoy the meeting as much as it appeared. “They were expecting to meet a dumb boxer,” he explained, and were caught off guard by Clay’s glibness. He went on to state that the Beatles were “stunned” when they left, and that, “It was the first time someone else had taken over.”
Interesting. I had seen pictures of the meeting before, and had assumed - wrongly, it seems - that everything was well rehearsed and done in good humor. But apparently not. Also, I had assumed that Clay/Ali was already the heavyweight champion of the world at the time, and did not know that he was still officially a contender, and a heavy underdog that was dismissed as having too big of a mouth, at that.
The information used in writing this particular blog entry about the Beatles meeting with Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali was taken from the following source:
When The Beatles Met Muhammad Ali in 1964 May 16, 2013
https://www.vintag.es/2013/05/the-beatles-met-muhammad-ali-1964.html
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