Jim Carroll with Terrell Winn
The Middle East (Cambridge, MA) 28 March 2001
Suffolk University (Boston, MA) 4 April 2001
Review by Derek X Nemirow
Twice in the last 8 days I had the distinct honor of being in the audience for spoken word performances by poet/author/songwriter Jim Carroll. On both nights Mr. Carroll was in rare form and had members of the captivated audience eating out of his figurative hand. Digging into his bag of tricks, Jim recited crowd pleasers such as “Zeno’s Law of High-Heeled Shoes,” “Sick Bird,” and his tale of success despite lack of preparedness, “Tiny Tortures.” Each performance featured a chapter reading from Carroll’s latest as-of-yet untitled novel for which riotous background, set-up information was provided to introduce the pieces as only a wordsmith like Jim Carroll could deliver. Also included each night was the reading of a letter supposedly written by the late Tupac Shakur to a German fan that Carroll ‘found ‘ in a recording studio that, each time read, is slightly embellished and leaves the crowd in stitches.
The only thing that truly distinguished these two already stellar performances from ones in the past was the special guest who made an appearance at the conclusion of each night’s set. Terrell Winn, guitarist from the Catholic Boy era Jim Carroll Band, was present and he and his old band mate delighted the crowds with an unplugged but highly electrifying rendition of the Velvet Underground classic “Sweet Jane.” Even more amazing was that the duo went on to perform a second song at the Suffolk U. show. Although Carroll had a head cold, which came across clearly during the readings, but didn’t soften the impact of them, he honed his voice during “Sweet Jane” and was absolutely superb in his delivery of my personal favorite JCB composition, “I Want the Angel.” Just when I figured that I had witnessed everything that could possibly be offered, a stagehand announced that Jim would be doing a meet and greet after the show. Despite his ill health, Carroll took the time to chat with everyone who wanted to and patiently signed keepsakes for every last person in line. Thanks Mr. Carroll. The pleasure was all mine.