I'm sure many of our three readers are well familiar with The Basketball Jones blog. I'm not so sure how many folks know about the amazing song by Cheech & Chong, though. Pardon the indulgence, but in sixth or seventh grade, I bought Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit - a collection of skits and songs with meaning I was only beginning to comprehend.* On that wonderful tape was the tune "Basketball Jones." You only need hear it once and every damn time you're jonesing for anything at all, be it 3 am pizza, a cheeseburger during the work day, or the velvety smooth caress of a cold beer, the song will pop into your head loudly and proudly.
The song was released in 1974 along with the short film. In 1974, the Celtics beat the Bucks (back when the Bucks were in the Western Conference). The following year, Rick Barry's Golden State Warriors** swept Wes Unseld's Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals. Regardless, and I know at least one guy will like this, check out the amazing lineup for the song:
Cheech Marin - Tyrone Shoelaces (voice)
Darlene Love - Cheerleader (voice) - Love had a number 1 hit in 1962.
Michelle Phillips - Cheerleader (voice) - uh, you might know her from the Mamas & the Papas.
Ronnie Spector - Cheerleader (voice) - kind of a big deal.
George Harrison - lead guitar - Yes. That George Harrison. Did this just blow your mind?
Klaus Voormann - bass - producer of the song "Da Da Da" from the iconic Volkswagen commercial.
Jim Karstein (often misspelled as Carstein) - drums - played a big show with a dude named Eric Clapton.
Jim Keltner - percussion - you've heard this guy even if you've never heard of him.
Carole King - electric piano - I'm not a fan, but almost every musician I know is.
Nicky Hopkins - piano - post-Zeppelin.
Tom Scott - saxophone - L.A. Express.
Billy Preston - organ - 5th Beatle. No big deal.
Given that this was 1974, this team looks a lot like either the Mavs or the Celtics with a lot of great players a little past their primes. Good luck with the Jones.
* - let's ignore the fact that I was 11 or 12 years old and listening frequently to this album on the way to or from school in my parents' car.
** - Rick Barry, aka the Miami Greyhound, really deserves his own post. I'll get to work on that.
*** - Until tonight, I'd never heard of Earl Foreman. If you've read the absolutely amazing "The Breaks of the Game" by David Halberstam, you know about Kermit Washington and a bit about Swen Nater as buddies in San Diego. They almost played together for the Virginia Squires thanks to Foreman, and thanks to Foreman they didn't.
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