I Am The Greatest (Cassius Clay Album)
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I Am The Greatest (Cassius Clay Album)
''I Am the Greatest'' is a comedy album by boxer Cassius Clay, released in August 1963 – six months before he won the world heavyweight championship, publicly announced his conversion to Islam, and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. It was released by CBS Columbia. The album helped establish Ali's reputation as an eloquently poetic " trash talker". The album has also been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop music. Overview The liner notes were written by the American poet Marianne Moore, a longstanding fan of Clay. Clay collaborated on the writing for the album with the comedy writer Gary Belkin, who was listed as producer on the original release and later as a co-writer in a 1999 re-release.Martin, Douglas, "Gary Belkin, 79, Dies; Wrote Comedy for TV Variety Shows", ''New York Times'', August 4, 2005. Belkin would later claim he had largely ghost-written the works, although Belkin's assertions have been disputed (e.g., by George Plimpton and D ...
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Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by ''Sports Illustrated'' and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his r ...
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New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital media, digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as ''The Daily (podcast), The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones (publisher), George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won List of Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times, 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national "newspaper of record". For print it is ranked List of newspapers by circulation, 18th in the world by circulation and List of newspapers in the United States, 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is Public company, publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 189 ...
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Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He is among the List of best-selling music artists, world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales. Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra was greatly influenced by the intimate, easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby and began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He found success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "Bobby soxer (music), bobby soxers". Sinatra released his debut album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra'', in 1946. When his film career stalled in the early 1950s, Sinatra turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best-known concert ...
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Golden Throats
Golden Throats is Rhino Records' series of humorous compilations of critically lambasted cover versions of songs, performed mostly either by celebrities known for something other than musical talent or musicians not known for the genre from which the song they are covering comes. Examples For example, William Shatner sings (or, more precisely, does a dramatic reading of the lyrics to) "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," Leonard Nimoy sings "If I Had a Hammer," and Muhammad Ali sings " Stand by Me." Other examples include the Bing Crosby cover of the Beatles' "Hey Jude" and the Mel Tormé cover of Donovan's " Sunshine Superman," as both were rock songs being covered by musicians of an older generation. In most cases, the songs appear to be performed sincerely, rather than in a spirit of irony or intentional goofiness. In many respects, these albums were among the first to anthologize lounge music, with their focus on "light" versions of contemporary hits. Inspiration The series (of ...
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Ben E
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin (name), Benjamin, Benedict (given name), Benedict, Bennett (name), Bennett or Benson (given name), Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (Hebrew), Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, אברהם בן אברהם). Bar (Aramaic)#Aramaic, Bar-, "son of" in Aramaic language, Aramaic, is also seen, e.g. Simon bar Kokhba ( he, שמעון בר כוכבא). Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin'' (بن), ''Ibn''/''ebn'' (ابن). People with the given name * Ben Adams (born 1981), member of the British boy band A1 * Ben Affleck (born 1972), American Academy Award-winning actor and screenwriter * Ben Ashkenazy (born 1968/69), American billionaire real estate developer * Ben Askren (born 1984), American sport wrestler and mixed martial artist * Ben Banogu (born 1996), American football player ...
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1964 In Music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1964. Specific locations * 1964 in British music * 1964 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1964 in country music * 1964 in jazz Events *January 1 – ''Top of the Pops'' is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television in the U.K. *January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on '' The Jack Paar Show''. *January 10 – '' Introducing... The Beatles'', the first album by The Beatles to be released in the United States, comes out on Chicago's Vee-Jay Records, preceding Capitol Records' release of ''Meet the Beatles!'', scheduled for January 20. *January 13 – Bob Dylan's '' The Times They Are a-Changin''' is released on Columbia Records. *January 15 – Vee Jay Records files a lawsuit against Capitol Records and Swan Records over manufacturing and distribution rights to Beatles albums. On April 9, Capitol Records is granted an injunction restraining Vee Jay Re ...
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Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his death in 1975. Muhammad was also the teacher and mentor of Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad Ali, and his own son, Warith Deen Mohammed. In the 1930s, Muhammad established the Nation of Islam, a religious movement that promoted black pride, economic empowerment, and separation of black and white Americans. His ideas were strongly influenced by Wallace Fard Muhammad, who was the founder of the NOI. After Fard's disappearance in 1934, Muhammad led the NOI and saw it grow from a small, struggling organization to a large movement. He was unique in his embrace of both black nationalism and pan-Africanism, as well as traditional Islamic themes. During Muhammad's tenure, membership in the NOI rose dramatically, going from a mere handful of mo ...
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Nation Of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African Americans. While it identifies itself as promoting a form of Islam, its beliefs differ considerably from mainstream Islamic traditions. Scholars of religion characterize it as a new religious movement. It operates as a centralized and hierarchical organization. The Nation teaches that there has been a succession of mortal gods, each a black man named Allah, of whom Fard Muhammad is the most recent. It claims that the first Allah created the earliest humans, the Arabic-speaking, dark-skinned Tribe of Shabazz, whose members possessed inner divinity and from whom all people of color are descended. It maintains that a scientist named Yakub then created the white race. The whites lacked inner divinity, and were intrinsically violent; they o ...
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Muhammad Ali Vs
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief. Muhammad was born approximately 570CE in Mecca. He was the son of Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb. His father Abdullah was the son of Quraysh tribal leader Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, and he died a few months before Muhammad's birth. His mother Amina died when he was six, leaving Muhammad an orphan. He was raised under the care of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and paternal uncle, Abu Talib. In later years, he would periodically seclude himse ...
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Sonny Liston
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 1930 – December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), who entered as a 7–1 underdog. Liston retired in his corner due to an inflamed shoulder. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. In his 1965 rematch with Ali, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that l ...
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Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off ...
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William Morris Agency
The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent agency in show business". In April 2009, WMA announced it would merge with the Endeavor Talent Agency to form William Morris Endeavor. William Morris Endeavor was renamed Endeavor in October 2017. History Early history In 1898, William Morris (born Zelman Moses), a German-Jewish immigrant to the US, posted a cross-hatch trademark above an office door in New York City four "X's", representing a W superimposed on an M and went into business as William Morris, Vaudeville Agent. By the time WMA formally incorporated in New York State on January 31, 1918, Morris' son William Morris Jr. and his assistant Abraham Lastfogel, who started out as an office boy and after becoming a talent agent in his own right, entered into a business partners ...
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