La Troisieme Fuite de Mohamed ‘Z’ Ali

LA TROISIEME FUITE DE MOHAMED ‘Z’ ALI

Les Sinners performed for months in Montreal clubs and gathered R&B influences from the personnel changes and from the larger musical scene around them. Canadian country music star Roger Miron signed the band to his Rusticana record label in 1966, and they quickly released three French-language singles, including “Sinnerisme”. The record album followed later that year with other tracks that they had laid down in the studio. Quirky song titles were definitely their forte: “Candid Colour Count Down”, “Sour as a Sidewalk”, and “La Troisieme Fuite de Mohamed ‘Z’ Ali” (“The Third Escape of Mohamed ‘Z’ Ali”).

The latter song is apparently a tribute to Muhammad Ali, though this was just two years after boxer Cassius Clay joined the Nation of Islam in 1964 and changed his name as a result. With the notable exception of Howard Cosell, most in the sports world refused to acknowledge his new name for several years and continued to call him Clay.

(April 2013)