Posts Tagged ‘Catholic Boy’

JIM CARROLL with LOU REED – ” People Who Died ” 25th September 1984 – Capitol Theatre Passiac New Jersey

Posted: January 1, 2016 in MUSIC
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Lou Reed – People Who Died – Jim Carroll
Recorded Live: 9/25/1984 – Capitol Theatre – Passaic, NJ

In my life, no one has captured what it was like being raised Catholic better than Jim Carroll. Not Bruce, not Jack, not Billy Joel…Jim Carroll. He wrote great poetry, that should never be forgotten. There was so much anger to lose yourself in that song that it just made sense to play and scream it out on repeat over and over . So if for some odd reason you have not memorized his songs and poems over the years…this is for you  ……..

Jim Carroll was born to a working-class family of Irish descent, and grew up on New York City’s Lower East Side, and when he was about eleven (in the sixth grade) his family moved north to Upper Manhattan where he attended Good Shepherd School. He was taught by the LaSalle Christian Brothers, and his brother in the sixth grade noted that he could write and encouraged him to do so. In fall 1963, he entered public school, but was soon awarded a scholarship to the elite Trinity School from 1964–1968.

Apart from being interested in writing, Carroll was an all-star basketball player throughout his grade school and high school career. He entered the “Biddy League” at age 13 and participated in the National High School All Star Game in 1966. During this time, Jim Carroll was living a double life as a heroin addict who prostituted himself to afford his habit but he was also writing poems and attending poetry workshops at  the St. Mark’s Poetry Project.

In 1978, Carroll published The Basketball Diaries, an autobiographical book concerning his life as a teenager in New York City and its hard drug culture. The Basketball Diaries was an edited collection of the diaries he kept between the ages of twelve and sixteen, detailing his sexual experiences, high school basketball career, and his addiction to heroin, which began when he was 13.

jimcarroll

In 1987, Carroll wrote a second memoir entitled Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries 1971–1973, continuing his autobiography into his early adulthood in the New York City music and art scene as well as his struggle to kick his drug habit.

After working as a musician, Jim Carroll returned to writing full-time in the mid-1980s and began to appear regularly on the spoken word circuit. Starting in 1991, Carroll performed readings from his then-in-progress first novel, The Petting Zoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPNqojbyIDk

In 1978, after he moved to California to get a fresh start since kicking his heroin addiction, Carroll formed The Jim Carroll Band, a New Wave/punk rock group, with encouragement from Patti Smith, with whom he once shared an apartment in New York City, along with Robert Mapplethorpe. The band was originally called Amsterdam, and was based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The musicians were Steve Linsley (bass), Wayne Woods (drums), Brian Linsley and Terrell Winn (guitars). They released a single “People Who Died”, from their 1980 debut album, Catholic Boy. The album featured contributions from Allen Lanier and Bobby Keys. In 1982 the song appeared in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, from which Carroll received royalties until his death in 2009.

The song also appeared in the 1985 Kim Richards vehicle Tuff Turf starring James Spader and Robert Downey Jr., which also featured a cameo appearance by the band, as well as 2004’s Dawn of the Dead. It was featured in the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries (based on Jim Carroll’s autobiography), and was covered by John Cale on his Antártida soundtrack. A condensed, 2-minute, version of the song was made into an animated music video by Daniel D. Cooper, an independent filmmaker/animator, in 2010. The song’s title was based on a poem by Ted Berrigan. Later albums were Dry Dreams (1982) and I Write Your Name (1983), both with contributions from Lenny Kaye and Paul Sanchez. Carroll also collaborated with musicians Lou Reed, Blue Öyster Cult, Boz Scaggs, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Pearl Jam, Electric Light Orchestra and Rancid. –

Jim Carroll, 60, died of a heart attack at his Manhattan home on September 11th, 2009. He was reportedly working at his desk when he died.

JIM CARROLL – ” People Who Died “

Posted: September 11, 2015 in MUSIC
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Jim Carroll died on this day in 2009 at 60 years of age. He struggled most of his life with severe drug & alcohol dependency. He was a brilliant novelist, poet and musician. This is one of his songs he recorded with his band, certainly one of the most powerful songs ever about the demons many have fought. James Dennis “Jim” Carroll (August 1, 1949– September 11th, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which inspired the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.

In 1978, after he moved to California to get a fresh start since overcoming his heroin addiction, Carroll formed The Jim Carroll Band, a  new wave punk styled rock band , with encouragement from Patti Smith, with whom he once shared an apartment in New York City, along with writer and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

He performed a spoken word piece with the Patti Smith Group when the support band dropped out at the last moment. Carrolls band originally formed and were based in theBolinas California. The musicians were Steve Linsley (bass), Wayne Woods (drums), Brian Linsley and Terrell Winn (guitars). They released a single “People Who Died”, from their 1980 highly acclaimed debut album, Catholic Boy .

Carroll, 60, died of a heart attack at his Manhattan home on September 11th, 2009. He was reportedly working at his desk when he died.He left us on this day (Sept. 11th) in 2009: poet, author, post-punk rocker & basketball player Jim Carroll (heart attack, age 60); his troubled early life was documented in best-selling 1978 memoir ‘The Basketball Diaries’; he published his first book of poetry at 17, then worked for Andy Warhol, script-writing & co-managing his theater; he formed The Jim Carroll Band in 1978 with the help of Patti Smith & released his 1980 debut album ‘Catholic Boy’ – its “People Who Died” was an instant underground hit, considered a staple of the New York punk scene; the song eulogized his real life childhood friends, the “characters” from ‘The Basketball Diaries’; albums ‘Dry Dreams’ (1982) & ‘I Write Your Name’ (1983) followed; Jim also collaborated with the likes of Lou Reed, Blue Öyster Cult, Boz Scaggs, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Pearl Jam, Electric Light Orchestra & Rancid; ‘The Basketball Diaries’ was made into a 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim