The Beatles weren’t eager to come together with “The Greatest.”
It was 1964 when photographer Harry Benson took the Fab Four to meet Muhammad Ali. At the time, the fighter was preparing to go toe-to-toe against Sonny Liston while the band was gearing up to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
The photographer is celebrating the 60th anniversary of his snapshots from the band’s tour.
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Harry Benson photographed the Beatles when they landed in America. (Harry Benson)
“When you photograph Muhammad Ali, you always get something interesting,” Benson chuckled to Fox News Digital. “Ali told them, ‘Your music is not that good.’ Let’s just say they didn’t particularly like that. And then the Beatles said, ‘We hear you’re not that good as a boxer.’”
“They still laughed about it, but it wasn’t a match made in heaven,” Benson added.
According to Benson, Ali kept declaring how the foursome were “tiny, small, little men” in comparison to his towering frame. John Lennon and Paul McCartney, in particular, weren’t impressed.
Harry Benson took the Fab Four to meet Muhammad Ali on Feb. 8, 1964, in Miami. (Harry Benson)
It was then that Ali pretended to knock them out.
“What was good about Ali was that he did everything I wanted him to do,” Benson explained. “I wanted to line up the Beatles that way, and he was happy to comply. He made them make faces as if he was knocking them all out. He just did everything for a great shot. The Beatles were a bit reluctant to do all this stuff. And Ali completely dwarfed them. He was aware. He was the heavyweight champion of the world, and he was good-looking.”
“Ali told them, ‘I’m much better looking than the four of you all together! Look at me!’” Benson recalled. “He knew the Beatles were smart a–es, but they weren’t going to be that way with him.”
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The Beatles acted as if they got knocked out by the American boxer Muhammad Ali. At the time, he had recently become known as the world champion. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone)
But when the shoot was over, the Beatles let Benson have it.
“John Lennon said to me, ‘It was a mistake going to see Ali,’” said Benson. “He felt [Ali] made them all look stupid. Ali did everything he wanted to do and strutted all around demanding them to look at him. And then he pretended to punch them, and they all had to act as if they were being knocked out with funny faces. They didn’t appreciate being dwarfed over Ali.”
Benson described how Ali taunted the group with statements like “Who’s the greatest? Who’s the most beautiful?”
John Lennon had a few choice words for photographer Harry Benson (pictured here). (Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for GIFF)
“John Lennon just said, ‘This was a big mistake we made. We shouldn’t have gone here. And it’s your fault Benson!’” he noted.
“The Beatles never forgave me,” said Benson.
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Muhammad Ali died in 2016 at age 74. The cause was septic shock, a family spokeswoman said at the time. (Getty Images )
Ali died in 2016 at age 74. At the time, McCartney, now 81, wrote, “I loved that man. He was great from the first day we met him in Miami… He was a beautiful, gentle man with a great sense of humour.”
One of Benson’s favorite memories of the Beatles was being on their plane as they traveled to America. The group touched down that year at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport to thousands of screaming girls.
A fan is carried away at a Beatles concert, circa 1964. (Harry Benson/Daily Express/Hulton Archives)
“I remember they were worried about what kind of reception they were going to receive,” Benson recalled. “There were a lot of problems in America with civil rights at the time. And there were rumblings that they weren’t going to be as well treated because they did speak about the racial problems at the time. They were very sympathetic toward how Blacks were being treated in America. They weren’t expecting so many girls to go crazy.”
Benson described how the band’s manager, Brian Epstein, was especially worried about their safety.
“He was concerned about girls slipping into their hotel room or following them,” said Benson. “It was the last problem he wanted to have, and it was a problem. They couldn’t even go to the restroom. It was an enormous crowd of girls, and yes fellas, trying to get to them.”
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The Beatles, from left, relaxing in their hotel room. From left: John Lennon (1940-1980), George Harrison (1943-2001), band manager Brian Epstein (1934-1967), Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. (Harry Benson/Express/Hulton Archive)
“I remember they were all in the hotel room just eating, with all this chaos happening outside,” said Benson. “I remember I said, ‘I need a picture.’ So at first, they just hung around and ate, until John slipped away. He then comes up behind Paul, hits his head with a pillow and, before you know it, pillow fight! It must have gone on all night.”
“Thank goodness I got some shots,” Benson continued. “I got movement. That’s what photographers look for, movement. It’s not just about sitting and looking at the camera. You want a touch of violence in it too, for a good picture.”
Over the years, Benson stayed in touch with the Beatles, even after they broke up in 1974. Benson can still vividly recall hearing about Lennon’s murder in 1980. The singer/songwriter was 40.
The Beatles having a pillow fight. (Harry Benson)
“You know, out of all of them, I probably liked John the best,” Benson admitted. “He really was the kindest person. If he was doing an interview, and he saw that you needed help on the street, he would stop and help you with whatever you needed. He would give you money if you needed it. He was a leader. He was a good guy, a kind man.”
Today, Benson still has fond memories of befriending the music icons.
“They were so good,” he shared. “They were ordinary street lads who were sharp and smart. But you just knew they were going to be phenomenal. I was just lucky to be there.”
