Audio Library

This site has existed since 1995. Most of the audio selections collected here have been on this site for a very long time. Back in the stone ages a 30-second clip could take 24 hours to download! While eventually I hope to bring this page into the twenty-first century with longer (and better quality) clips, for now, well, what I have here are mostly brief “clips” — except for the occasional recent addition. If you can help me provide better audio selections, please contact me!

Misc. Live Performances – Excerpts

Carroll’s First Rock ‘n’ Roll Performance (with Patti Smith)
Recorded live at the California Theater, San Diego, CA, 15 May 1978

Patti Smith introduces Carroll (0:29)

Jim Carroll & Patti Smith (0:31)

The Jim Carroll Band performing “Wicked Gravity” (0:55)

Song from Catholic Boy.
Recorded live at the Bottom Line, New York, NY
22 December 1980

Jim Carroll, “I Want the Angel” (1:16)

Spoken version of the song from Catholic Boy.
Recorded Live on microcassette at The Back Door, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
13 November 1987

Spoken Word

Complete Spoken-Word Performance (1:33:32)

Jim Carroll with Ray Manzarek at The Bottom Line, New York, NY
29 April 1985
Recorded by David McKenzie

From The Basketball Diaries – Excerpts

From a Diary, 1962 (0:35)

Recorded for Dial-A-Poem on March 30, 1969 (when Carroll was 19), this is the earliest spoken-word recording I know of. The excerpt is from a longer recording which can be found on the Giorno Poetry Systems albums **The Dial-A-Poem Poets (1972) and **You’re a Hook: The 15 Year Anniversary of Dial-A-Poem(1983). This diary is published in the Winter 1966 section of The Basketball Diaries (pages 157-59 in Penguin editions).

Devil’s Toe, 1962 (0:53)

This diary entry appears in the Summer 1964 section of The Basketball Diaries, (page 47 in Penguin editions). It was recorded for the The Basketball Diaries audio book and adapted with music for The Basketball Diaries film soundtrack. I need to make pages for key locations — for now, check out “The Cut” on the Important Places map.

Bobby’s Death (1:30)

This diary entry appears in the Fall 1964 section of The Basketball Diaries, (pages 67-68 in Penguin editions). It was recorded for the The Basketball Diaries audio book and adapted with music for The Basketball Diaries film soundtrack. Here’s a **photo of Bobby.

It’s Been Hard (0:22)

This diary entry appears in the Winter 1966 section of The Basketball Diaries, (pages 162-163 in Penguin editions). It was recorded for the The Basketball Diaries audio book and adapted with music for The Basketball Diaries film soundtrack.

Unpublished Diary (1:13)

Recorded live at St. Mark’s Church, New York, NY, 13 February 1973. Carroll reads a basketball diary entry not included in The Basketball Diaries. This diary entry is dated 8/8/65, the day after the “Celia Sisters” entry. It was published only in Adventures in Poetry, July 1968.

From a Diary, 1962 (0:35)

Recorded for Dial-A-Poem on March 30, 1969 (when Carroll was 19), this is the earliest spoken-word recording I know of. The excerpt is from a longer recording which can be found on the Giorno Poetry Systems albums The Dial-A-Poem Poets (1972) and You’re a Hook: The 15 Year Anniversary of Dial-A-Poem (1983). This diary entry is published in the Winter 1966 section of The Basketball Diaries (pages 157-59 in Penguin editions).

Four Poems (8:15)

Carroll reads four poems originally published in Paris Review for Salon.com Audio. The reading, recorded in 2001, includes:
“Heroin,” from Living at the Movies and Fear of Dreaming
“The Birth and Death of the Sun,” from Living at the Movies and Fear of Dreaming
“Prell,” from Living at the Movies and Fear of Dreaming
Excerpts from “NYC Variations,” from The Book of Nods and Fear of Dreaming

“For Gregory Corso” (2:07)

Recorded live at the Benefit for Gregory Corso at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, New York, NY,
26 April 2001

“Summary Experiment” (0:31)

Recorded live at the Bowery Poetry Club, New York, NY,25 October 2002
Here Carroll premiers his latest innovation, a technique similar to the cutup method using MS Word’s “auto summarize” feature.

“Junkie Man” (0:24)

From Rancid’s . . . And Out Come the Wolves

“Sick Bird” (1:30)

Recorded live at First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 18 June 1996
Learn about the development of this poem.

Here is a shorter version (0:25)

From Praying Mantis

“Sampling Nietzsche” (0:19)

“Fragment: Little N.Y. Ode” (0:19)

From Living at the Movies and Fear of Dreaming

“Tiny Tortures” (11:24)

From Forced Entries

From Forced Entries

“The Loft Party” (2:14)

Recorded live at Cafe Largo, Hollywood, CA, 14 March 1991, on a microcassette tape. Jim meets William S. Burroughs for the first time. This selection features Carroll’s Burroughs impression. The story appears on pages 101-110 of Forced Entries.

“Limbo” (0:27)

Recorded live at The Back Door, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 13 November 1987. (Recorded on microcassette.) This piece appears on pages 55-56 in Forced Entries.

Monologues

Colonic (1:45)

I have a few versions of the colonic monologue. In this recording Carroll provides some context he didn’t always share.

The Raven (1:17)

A monologue describing a section of Carroll’s novel-in-progress, tentatively titled The Petting Zoo.
Recorded live at Cafe Largo, Hollywood, CA, 14 March 1991. The protagonist meets the raven Noah released from the ark to discover land before releasing the dove . . .

“The Loss of American Innocence” (0:58) need to redo this one …

Recorded live at Cafe Largo, Hollywood, CA, 14 March 1991
This is the end of the monologue. The story in The Petting Zoo is substantially different from the monologue as it appears on Praying Mantis. If you haven’t heard “The Loss of American Innocence” on Praying Mantis, DON’T listen to this clip until you do. To get the full effect, you must hear the entire monologue!