Cassius Clay - I Am The Greatest!

The Louisville Lip lets rip

Originally released on Columbia in late 1963 in the run up to his World Heavyweight Title fight with Sonny Liston, this is the historic sound of Cassius Clay more than living up to his reputation as he delivers a white hot selection of routines from his collected wit and wisdom. Staged over nine rounds, complete with the sound of a ringside bell and canned applause, for all the mock gravity of the Champ’s delivery and his merciless and repeated put downs of Sonny Liston, the knock-out blow is arguably delivered on the bonus track. A stereo mix of his 1964 take on Ben E King’s Stand By Me, it reveals him as a more-than-passable vocalist.

Sadly, the album was killed stone dead following Clay’s conversion to the Nation Of Islam and adopting the name of Muhammad Ali in March 1964 shortly after defeating Sonny Liston. Columbia promptly withdrew the album from sale, but who knows what might have been had Stand By Me been given a commercial release? One more time: who is the most sublime?

Rev-Ola | CR REV 241

Reviewed by Grahame Bent
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