Catholic Boy: The Jim Carroll Band
Jim Carroll was a child-prodigy heroin addict who wrote a fascinating account of his life called The Basketball Diaries (later made into a pretty good movie). In 1980, he released his first and only music album, called Catholic Boy, and it is one of my favorite albums of all time. Every song is filled with scarily infectious hooks, and the street-wise lyrics are unforgettable. $9.98 on Amazon
Comments
i actually saw this guy in concert at the bottom line in nyc back in the day. pretty good show. i still remember the song about all his dead friends.
Posted by: josh | September 16, 2006 8:09 PM
One of our favorite songs in college after this album came out was "People Who Have Died."
Thanks for reviving the memory .
Posted by: Brianron | September 17, 2006 8:33 AM
Well, there was also I Write Your Name with an interesting cover of "Sweet Jane."
Posted by: Lee Snavely | September 21, 2006 7:24 PM
Mark, your usually thorough research has failed you in this instance. CATHOLIC BOY was but the first of three "music albums" that Carroll made with his band at the time, the other two being 1982's DRY DREAMS and 1984's I WRITE YOUR NAME. After turning to spoken word and more poetry during late-80s and '90s recordings, Carroll "put the band back together" for 1998's POOLS OF MERCURY, his first collection of new songs in 14 years. CATHOLIC BOY is a great album and Carroll's best, but next time why not check out www.allmusic.com first?
Posted by: Rev. Keith A, Gordon | October 23, 2006 10:44 AM