Jim Carroll
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Jim Carroll (born August 1, 1950 in New York City) is an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll is best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into a film of the same name in 1995 starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
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[edit] Background
Raised in New York City, Carroll attended Roman Catholic grammar schools from 1955 to 1963. In fall 1963, he entered public school, but was soon awarded a scholarship to the elite Trinity High School (a private school). He entered Trinity High School in 1964.
Apart from being interested in writing, Carroll was a passionate basketball player throughout his grade school and middle school career. He entered the "Biddy League" at age 13 and participated in the National High School All Star Game in 1966, hence the title of his most famous book.
During this time, Carroll was living a double life as heroin addict who admits to prostituting himself to afford his habit. The Basketball Diaries, an edited version of his journal from that time, concerns his life in New York City's hard drug culture and his struggle to rid himself of his addiction.
By age 15, Carroll was still using heroin, but was also writing poems and attending poetry workshops at St. Mark's Poetry Project. He attracted the attention of the local literati.
Carroll published his first book, Organic Trains, at age 17. Several of his poems have been published in such magazines as Paris Review and Poetry. In 1970, his second collection of poems, 4 Ups and 1 Down was published. That same year, Carroll started working for Andy Warhol. At first, he was writing film dialogue and inventing character names; later on, Carroll worked as the co-manager of Warhol's Theater. Carroll's first above-ground publication, the collection Living At The Movies, was published in 1973.
He formed The Jim Carroll Band, a New Wave/punk rock group, in 1978, after encouragement from Patti Smith. The band was formerly called Amsterdam, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The musicians were: Steve Linsley (bass), Wayne Woods (drums), Brian Linsley and Terrell Winn (guitars). Their biggest commercial success was the single "People Who Died", from their 1980 debut album, Catholic Boy; the album featured contributions from Allen Lanier and Bobby Keys. The song was covered by John Cale on his Antártida soundtrack. Later albums were Dry Dreams (1982) and I Write Your Name (1983), both with contributions from Lenny Kaye.
Carroll has also collaborated with many influential punk and hard rock musicians, including Lou Reed, Blue Öyster Cult, Boz Scaggs, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Pearl Jam, and Rancid.
In the mid-1980s, Carroll returned to writing full time and began to appear regularly on the spoken word circuit. As of 2006, he is still at work on his first fiction novel, tentatively titled The Petting Zoo. The book has been in the works for well over a decade and is apparently near completion.
[edit] Books
[edit] Poetry
- Organic Trains (1967)
- 4 Ups and 1 Down (1970)
- Living at the Movies (1973)
- The Book of Nods (1986)
- Fear of Dreaming (1993)
- Void of Course: Poems 1994-1997 (1998) ISBN 0-14-058909-0
[edit] Diaries/Prose
- The Basketball Diaries (1978)
- Forced Entries (1987)
[edit] Albums
[edit] Music by Jim Carroll and the Jim Carroll Band
- Catholic Boy (1980)
- Dry Dreams (1982)
- I Write Your Name (1983)
- A World Without Gravity: Best of The Jim Carroll Band (1993)
- Pools of Mercury (1998)
- Runaway EP (2000)
[edit] Spoken word/lecture
- Rimbaud Lectures (1978)
- Naropa Institute (1986)
- Praying Mantis (1991)
- The Basketball Diaries (1994)
- Curtis's Charm (1996)
- Pools of Mercury (1998)
[edit] Music done in collaboration
- Club Ninja, Blue Öyster Cult (1986)
- Other Roads, Boz Scaggs (1988)
- Between Thought and Expression, Lou Reed (1992)
- ...And Out Come the Wolves, Rancid (1995)
- Feeling You Up, Truly (1997)
- Yes I Ram, Jon Tiven Group (1999)
[edit] Compilations and soundtracks featuring Carroll
- Tuff Turf Soundtrack (1985)
- Back to the Streets: Celebrating the Music of Don Covay (1993)
- Sedated in the Eighties (1993)
- New Wave Dance Hits: Just Can't Get Enough, Vol. 6 (1994)
- The Basketball Diaries Soundtrack (1995)
- WBCN Naked 2000 (2000)
- Dawn of the Dead (2004)
[edit] Covers
- Viva Zapata, 7 Year Bitch (1994)
- Put Your Tongue to the Rail, various artists (1999)
[edit] External links
- Catholicboy.com - unofficial site
- 1986 interview with Jim Carroll by Don Swaim at Wired for Books.[[Category:American punk rock singers]
