#3
January 3 1980
The Jim Carroll Band
Catholic Boy
Genre: Better than Lou Reed
4.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Three Sisters
Nothing is True
People Who Died
It’s Too Late
When I first came to Los Angeles I got a job at Book Soup. I was a terrible employee and that was the pre-eminent bookstore in town. I just hated…working. And, really, what’s working in a bookstore anyway? Showing people where books are, making sure they don’t steal, offer suggestions and sit at the cash register.
I never knew where anything was, I was stealing myself, I was nowhere near read enough to make the suggestions I was making but boy could I sit on my ass and take cash!
The Basketball Diaries was a big one at Book Soup. We always had it in stock and all the young wannabes would buy it. Or steal. Or read it in the store. I did none of those. I was just aware of it.
And I was aware that Carroll decided one day to just be a rock star.
Unlike Lou Reed, who has the same singing ability as Jim, Carroll brings energy and crunch to his punk and his poetry. And his words are stellar. To be honest, Reed has many more records to have filled so its possible that the early works are where he shines but that torch has, by this time, been passed to Jim.
And while Lou has “Walk on the Wild Side”, Jim has “People Who Died”, which is the 80s flip side.
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