Leon's Right Hand

This is the eighth of a series of 14 short posts which illustrate the tracks from the forthcoming album The Mint Hotel. The songs on the album are inspired by the 'Beat' generation of writers, artists and revolutionaries working from the 1950s to the early 1970s, providing an alternative view of the 'wholesome' American society advertisers and politicians wanted you to see. Each post features a piece of artwork related to the song, created using Artificial Intelligence software; and also an explanation of the inspiration for that song.

In the 1970s, Hunter S. Thompson covered the high-profile boxing match between Muhammad Ali, then decidedly on the wane, and a bruising newcomer called Leon Spinks.

Everyone thought Ali’s aura and reputation would carry him through. Thompson describes the frenzy as the fight bookmakers slowly realize that Spinks might actually win the fight, the odds tumbling rapidly for the in-fight punters who had bet on Ali out of a kind of blindness to his approaching demise. “My friend, sitting in one of the 200 dollar seats with a bunch of high-rollers, lost at least $45,000 in 45 minutes, pleading “I was betting on a goddamned legend. I must have been out of my mind.”

Instrumental track with saxophone, flute and guitar solos.