Sunday, February 15, 2015

The Beatles Meet Cassius Clay - Miami February 18, 1964



This was the Beatles last appearance of their first 3 on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. It was broadcast from the Deauville Hotel in Miami because Ed Sullivan wanted to see the fight between Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay; soon to become Muhammad Ali.

One of the highlights of the visit to Miami was the introduction of the Beatles to Cassius Clay for some publicity shots. That was on February 18th. Ali remembers wondering who the hell they were. His world and theirs were; well; worlds apart! But the funny thing is that the Champ later became a fan of the Fab Four. He once opined that while he was the greatest; they were the most beautiful.

Later on he even challenged them to re-form the band in 1970 for a concert to help fight hunger in Africa. This was 15 years before “We are the World” became the accepted concept for rock and roll benefit concerts. This was just after George Harrison had set the template for such concerts with his Concert for Bangla Desh in August of 1970.

The Beatles never did get together again; either for themselves or charity. But, tomorrow never knows and maybe someone else will come along and change the music scene again in the same way that they did. They still have a way of getting under your skin; making you want to grab a ticket to ride and sail across the universe. 

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