Scottish photographer Harry Benson, the Beatles, and Muhammad Ali dressed as a slave... things got tense – Kenny MacAskill

At 93, my pal Harry Benson, the Glasgow-born photographer, has as many stories as pictures.

In 1964, Harry was on location in Miami with the Beatles and it coincided with the heavyweight championship bout between Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali, then called Cassius Clay. Wanting a picture of the band with the world champion, he phoned Liston who was disparaging. Whether age or just attitude, Liston rejected the idea and so Harry made contact with Ali.

The young challenger for the crown was willing and obliging, something that Harry found him to be throughout his life. Always polite and content to provide the shots that photographers needed. In many ways, it was fortuitous as the then relatively unknown Ali later won the fight.

Harry took the Fab Four down to meet Ali where he was training. The boxer took time out from his session to meet, mingle, and take part in the photo call. The band had only vaguely heard of Ali. They assumed he’d be just another rather plodding, not very bright contender. As it was, they met a man razor sharp in wit and repartee, as well as being a supreme athlete. The photographs show them lined up so it looks like Ali’s gloved fist has hit George’s head, which then hits Ringo’s, John’s and Paul’s in a comic domino effect. Similarly, there’s another where he towers over them as they lie at his feet.

Now if Ali said “jump”, I’d simply say how high and so it was with the Beatles. Never threatening but he barked and sparred with them, and they did as he commanded. His physique was intimidating enough. He joked that while Paul might be the pretty one of them, he was the prettiest. Classic Ali but all new to the band who’d been used to, and were no doubt expecting, adulation.

The photos show the Beatles smiling, sometimes through gritted teeth. When they returned to the hotel, John accused Harry of having set them up and didn’t speak to him for several days. It had, of course, been nothing of the sort and the lifelong friendship with all of the band remained. But Ali surprised the world when he won the contest days later and a new hero was born, one who could talk as well as he boxed.

At the American bicentennial, Harry was commissioned to take Ali’s photograph with him dressed as George Washington. Contemporary US stars were being taken in the image of revolutionary heroes. But when he arrived in Chicago to take the picture, Ali, realising Washington had been a slave owner, declined. Seeking to avoid a fruitless journey, Harry enquired if he could photograph Ali dressed as a slave which he agreed to but only if properly got up.

A hardware store and theatrical shop provided chains and a coarse linen outfit. Ali refused to do it in the hotel room, but went to a South Chicago park in a poor black area. Walking through it, Ali used the N-word, saying the white man had them all enslaved. Heads looked up and liquor bottles in brown bags lowered. A tense moment and Harry considered fleeing but it ended when Ali burst out laughing. All was well and the photo shows what a good-looking, physically impressive man Ali was.

Kenny MacAskill is Alba Party MP for East Lothian