Mar. 3, 1964 | Cassius Clay and Sam Cooke Interview

Mar. 3, 1964 - Cassius Clay, the world heavyweight champion, spent two hours in a Columbia Records studio at 799 Seventh Avenue today cutting a disk of his latest tune, “Hey, Hey, The Gang’s All Here.” Clay was accompanied by a mixed chorus of 10 professional singers and a six-piece band under the direction of Horace Ott.
The entire production, which was frequently interrupted by the irrepressible Cassius, was arranged by the William Morris Agency. The new lyrics to the song were written for Cassius by Sam Cooke, a rhythm-and-blues recording artist.
Cassius’s latest singing effort is his third record. He made a comedy LP recording, “I Am the Greatest,” last August. On that record, Clay predicted the outcome of his title fight with Sonny Liston.
Clay’s other recording, a Columbia record entitled “Stand by Me,” was made in Chicago last September. The record was released last Wednesday, the day after Clay won the title from Liston on a seventh-round technical knockout. Since its release, the record has sold more than 100,000 copies.
In between takes of “Hey, Hey” today, Cassius sat at the drums and beat a solid rhythm. He also played a few bars of rock ’n’ roll on the piano. And as usual, he recited some poetry.
Following his title fight, Cassius said, he asked Willie Reddish, Liston’s trainer, why Liston failed to come out for the seventh round. Clay’s answer for Liston was: “Man, I’m no fool — I’m gonna stay on this stool.”

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