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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; oxforddnb.com&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can try to deny it in some sort of misguided\u00A0pursuit\u00A0of individuality.\u00A0You can point to a lot of other groups that are just as important. But I defy you to press play on\u00A0&lt;em&gt;Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band&lt;/em&gt;, which hit shelves 46 years ago this weekend, and then argue that anyone has ever done it better.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps even more famous than the music itself is the\u00A0record's iconic, Grammy Award-winning cover. The legend is that each band member chose roughly 10 people they wanted (or would have wanted) to perform for. The roster includes\u00A0writers, artists, film stars, musicians, Indian gurus -- and these three athletes. (Save it in your back pocket for the next time you want to win a bar bet.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h1&gt;Sonny Liston&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where he appears:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Front row all the way to the left next to the wax model of George Harrison.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sporting r\u00E9sum\u00E9:&lt;/strong&gt; Knocked out Floyd Patterson in one round for the heavyweight title in 1962 (at a time when it &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; meant something); twice stopped by Muhammad Ali; only undisputed heavyweight champion to quit on his stool.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cultural cache:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Enigmatic, tortured figure; died under mysterious circumstances less than five years after &lt;em&gt;Sgt. Pepper's&lt;/em&gt; was released.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beatles connection:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Ali's 1964 meeting with the Fab Four while training for the first Liston fight is considerably more famous, but the Big Bear actually went to a Beatles concert that same year, though he was kind of a hater.\u00A0\"Is them bums what all this fuss is about?\" he was quoted as saying. \"Sheet, man, mah dawg play better drums than that kid with the big nose.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cover story:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Word is that John Lennon was a big fan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h1&gt;Albert Stubbins&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where he appears:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Second row northeast of Harrison and to the left of\u00A0Marlene Dietrich.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sporting r\u00E9sum\u00E9: &lt;/strong&gt;Powerfully built\u00A0English footballer who signed with Liverpool in 1946 for \u00A312,500, then a club record; scored 28 goals in first season with Reds to lead team to first league title in 24 years; retired in 1953 with 83 goals in 178 appearances.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cultural cache:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;Moved into sportswriting after retirement from playing career;\u00A0appeared as a minor character in Stephen Baxter's 1995 novel &lt;em&gt;The Time Ships&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beatles connection:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0While it's true Stubbins was banging them in for the Fab Four's hometown side during their formative years, the truth -- according to Hunter Davies' authorized biography -- is none of the Beatles were massive soccer fans. (Though, McCartney\u00A0was born into an Everton family.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cover story:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0The striker was one of Lennon's choices, as his name had apparently amused him as a child.\u00A0Stubbins had no idea he was on the cover until the record arrived on his doorstep shortly after its release, signed by all four with McCartney\u2019s handwritten note: &lt;em&gt;Well done, Albert, for all those glorious years of football. Long may you bob and weave.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h1&gt;Johnny Weissmuller&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where he appears:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Second row center behind Ringo.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sporting r\u00E9sum\u00E9:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0Won five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze for water polo during the 1920s; set 67 world records;\u00A0reportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cultural cache:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;Played Tarzan in 12 motion pictures from 1932 through '48.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beatles connection:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0None, apparently.\n&lt;strong&gt;Cover story:&lt;/strong&gt;\u00A0McCartney said he was chosen because they liked the sound of his name, replacing an image of Adolf Hitler (Lennon's pick) present in early photographs of the montage.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2013/05/31/now-you-can-name-the-athletes-on-the-cover-of-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band>