Muhammad Ali: Most Musical

There isn’t a dry eye in the house.

Everyone who knows anything about Muhammad Ali is currently devastated in some way. The news of his passing on June 3 doesn’t come as a surprise, as some other recent high-profile departures have been. He was 74, and his myriad health problems were well known. Many of us have dreaded this day, but we understood it would come.

Often when I go to bed at night, I take inventory of the people I admire most on the planet. It always gave me an inspiring kind of comfort to know that Muhammad Ali was somewhere on Earth, doing something.

Of course, “The Greatest” is still among us – a spirit that divine doesn’t diminish, just because its body has breathed its last.

Sound Mind and Body

So why are we paying tribute to a boxer in this particular place?

Well, of course, Muhammad Ali may be the most musical athlete of our time or any other. His name alone is a rhythmic om perfect for repeating again and again. It’s a mantra.

And why wouldn’t his name sound so beautiful? After all, he personally selected it, and his talent for rap and rhyme ran deep. Ali’s interviews are revered not just for the extraordinary cleverness of his words, but the hypnotic rhythms in which he delivered them. Doubtless, generations of hip-hop artists have aspired to the knockout impact of “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

Pure Charisma

I was fascinated by Muhammad Ali by the time I was six. Growing up in suburban Detroit, my parents had a ton of books including one of those compact biographies that are written for kids. I remember reading Ali’s again and again, thrilled by the story of his rise from nothing remarkable in Louisville, Kentucky to an inimitable champion and a global icon.

Lucky are we whose life and times coincided with Ali.

I understand now that it wasn’t just his bio that blew me away. I was electrified by Ali’s charisma, which I absorbed from each page. Millions, if not billions, of other people were similarly affected by him – even opponent Jerry Quarry couldn’t wait to embrace this boxing prophet after Ali beat him up in their 1970 bout.

Decades later, as an adult I dove into a much more comprehensive tome. I was captivated by Thomas Hauser’s excellent Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. His whole life was incredible, but if you’ve only got a little time, don’t miss the Wiki.

Not Just for Boxers

Those of us in audio actually have many Muhammad Ali’s. We can all think of multiple moments when the music we listen to wholly absorbs us. Not only do we feel the magic of the melody, but there was something in us that beheld the glory of its maker — the collective strivings of instrumentalists, producers, mixers, and engineers.

Some of these expert’s efforts make our emotions rise even higher. One of my personal Muhammad Ali moments in music comes via Stewart Copeland, the genius Police drummer and composer.

I can tell you exactly when and where. Take a listen to his work on the classic track “Synchronicity I”, as I have many many times and — just like you should keep your eye on the ball — don’t take your ears off the drums.

Stay laser-focused on the pure power Stewart Copeland unleashes in that drum track. The beat — especially the high hat part — is extremely fast and physically brutal to play, yet he delivers it relentlessly for the song’s entire 3:23, broken up only by some of the master drummer’s most massive fills ever.

At the end of “Synchronicity I,” I feel absolutely plastered against the wall by Copeland’s massive performance. It’s a breathless exhilaration — one that I recognize from other moments of my life, such as seeing film of Ali’s legendary victory over George Foreman in the famed “Rumble In the Jungle.” (You can relive it personally via Leon Gast’s outstanding 1996 documentary When We Were Kings.) The moment where Ali comes alive and demolishes George Foreman after eight rounds of pure punishment is epic — my soul soars with each experiencing. A chaotic, righteous high.

These unforgettable people often come to us from music, athletics, movies, fashion, and culture. They do not set out to become spiritual leaders, but their spirit leads us. Their greatest accomplishments, their sheer presence, move us in transformative ways.

He, We

As I mourn for Muhammad Ali, and accept life without his physical person on the planet, something positive occurred to me: Maybe we can also be someone’s Ali.

Ali’s trans-galactic karma can never be duplicated, of course. But all the other things he stood for and emanated at his best, I can aspire to. I can be committed to peace, justice, equality, empathy, entertainment, and overall amazingness. Maybe I can do this with songs that I record, or words that I write, or maybe just from the example I set every day for my closest family and friends.

Who’s your musical Muhammad Ali? How have they motivated you in the studio? All of us have something special that went into our ears and push us far, far further than anything else. When sound fills you with a joyous explosion, intensive inner peace, or love’s power, that’s what makes it much larger than life. That’s when it’s The Greatest.

• David Weiss

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