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Today marks the single historical intersection between The Beatles and Muhammad Ali, who at the time was still known as Cassius Clay. Both were in Miami — The Beatles to film an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Clay to train for his upcoming heavyweight title bout with Sonny Liston.
The Beatles’ PR people were keen to piggyback on the buzz surrounding the fight and initially approached Liston, then considered a mortal lock to retain the title, about being photographed with the Fab Four. He had no interest, however, so the Beatle camp went to Clay, who as the underdog was willing to play along.
The five of them clowned around for awhile, photos were taken, and they got on with their lives. There is some video as well; it apparently belongs to the BBC, who have turned off embedding, but you can see it here.
By the time of the actual fight, which took place on February 25, says Rolling Stone:
The Beatles were already back in London and gearing up to record “Can’t Buy Me Love.” In one of the most shocking moments in boxing history, Liston essentially surrendered after seven rounds in the ring with Clay. “I’m the greatest,” said Clay, who would change his name to Muhammad Ali the following month. “I shook up the world!” (Nine years later, Ringo Starr would release a song called “I’m the Greatest,” written by John Lennon.)
Far be it from me to tell you what to do, but I wonder if you would consider doing a post and back-dating to February 7 or February 11 (I forget which), 1964, the day “I Want To Hold Your Hand” hit #1 in America. I see that as a wonderful “first” post for TB+50 … I remember vividly the first time I heard the song on the radio. In the morning, before school. I was in eighth grade, at Williard, in Berkeley, and I couldn’t think about anything else but The Beatles all day. That one song had slashed… Read more »
Perhaps you’d like to write it?