Inspired by Harry Benson!
One of me fave things to do besides bollixing around with this Blog, is to wander around book stores trying to see if I can find remainders of the day, or for those not in the publishing know, books heavily discounted due to slow sales and such.
But just because a book does not sell does not mean it is rubbish.
Case in point is The Icons Of Our Time series, featuring Muhammad Ali, with text by Jane Benn.
Lots of superbly shot, gorgeous b&w pic of Ali from 1963 to 1974 with one taken by photographer Harry Benson, which will likely interest Beatle fans.
When I interviewed Benson for the National Post in 1999, he told me about the circumstances leading up to the famous Feb. 9, 1964 Miami Beach gym photos of the Fabs while they were in town to appear on Ed Sullivan, and where Ali was preparing for his heavyweight championship fight with Sonny Liston.
Harry, who travelling with the lads, told me that John Lennon in particular did not care much for Ali, and thought that the brash young fighter would be destroyed by Liston.
Benson said that Lennon wanted the photo session to be with Sonny. Hard to imagine that one, I'm afraid as Liston was a beast who suffered no fools, Beatle or otherwise.-
In any event, the Beatles did play the fool with Ali, and some of Harry's pics became all-time iconic images.
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The other shots featured here are of Ali in London just before his May, 1963 fight at Wembley with Henry Cooper, who possessed a thundering left hook, known as "'enry's 'ammer," which actually dumped Ali on his arse, before he rallied and stopped olde Henry on cuts.
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Ah yes; wot a glorious time.
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