Muhammad Ali (January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) – A Tribute To Mohammed Ali (1967)
This very rare, super funky tribute song to The Greatest was written and performed by New Orleans R&B singer/songwriter Chuck Cornish.
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Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali became one of the twentieth century’s most well known and celebrated public figures. He blazed a trail for athletes to use their platforms for activism, and his principled opposition to the Vietnam War helped bring it to an end.
His eyes were opened to the injustices of the world growing up in the segregated South. He was 13 years old at the time of Emmett Till’s murder in 1955, an event that deeply affected him. “Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till,” he would later tell his daughter.
Ali’s professional boxing career began after he won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. In 1962-63, as he rose in the contender rankings and trained in Miami for his first title match against reigning heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, he became increasingly involved with the Black nationalist group the Nation of Islam, which led to his friendship with Malcolm X.
This time period, when Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, is expertly chronicled in the recent book Cassius X by Stuart Cosgrove, author of several acclaimed books on Black American soul music and social change in the 60s and 70s. A Smithsonian Channel documentary based on the book is currently in production.
Chuck Cornish was an R&B singer/songwriter from New Orleans. In 1967 he wrote and performed the ultra rare, superb funky (misspelled) soul gem “A Tribute To Mohammed Ali.” It was released on White Cliffs, a small label owned by Cosimo V. Matassa, who also owned J&M Recording Studio in New Orleans. Many early R&B and rock’n’roll records were recorded there, including Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.”
The same instrumental backing track for “A Tribute To Mohammed Ali” was also used for another single with different lyrics the following year in 1968, “Do You Love Me” by Senator Jones. It was the third record released on Jones’ own label Shagg Records, which he had recently started, one of several small record labels the New Orleans promoter, singer/songwriter and producer would set up.
Both White Cliffs and Shagg Records were distributed by Dover Records, which was also owned by Matassa. All of his companies went under in 1968-69 after the IRS filed suit against Dover for “non-payment of delinquent internal revenue taxes” and Matassa went bankrupt.
Because of these record company troubles, “A Tribute To Mohammed Ali” never had the chance to make an impact on the charts. But it was a great record, with inspired lyrics, fantastic backup singers, and an upbeat, horn-driven sound destined to drive many future Northern Soul dancefloors into a frenzy. Original copies today sell for hundreds of dollars.
After refusing to be drafted to serve in Vietnam and declaring he was a conscientious objector, Ali was arrested, stripped of his heavyweight champion title and U.S. passport, and denied a license to box in any state for three years between 1967 and 1970. He spoke at college campuses around the country and inspired many young Americans to similarly oppose the Vietnam War, through the example of how much he had sacrificed for his conviction that the war was morally wrong.
In 1974, as Ali was preparing for his comeback title shot in Zaire (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) against then-world heavyweight champion George Foreman, Cornish took one more swing himself at a hit record inspired by the former champ.
He wrote and produced another tribute song, “Ali Funky Thing,” arranged by legendary New Orleans producer Wardell Quezergue, and credited to Cornish’s alias Hank Herb. Promo copies were also issued by Scepter Records’ Wand division, but the song was never officially released by that label. It was not nearly as epic as his initial tribute, but still a funky number worthy of being associated with The Greatest.
#soul #funk #NewOrleans #ChuckCornish #MuhammadAli