{"id":10044,"date":"2025-06-03T00:15:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T07:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10044"},"modified":"2025-06-03T00:15:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T07:15:56","slug":"jim-carroll-mercury-records-biographical-sketch-1998","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carroll-biographies\/jim-carroll-mercury-records-biographical-sketch-1998\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Carroll: Mercury Records Biographical Sketch 1998"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Max’s Kansas City has gone highbrow and Midtown; heroin has a chic; and punk rock has gone the acceptable and safe shopping mall route–not exactly the world Jim Carroll<\/strong> thrust himself into as a carpe diem teen and literary rookie genius. It’s not the universe that welcomed The Jim Carroll Band<\/em>, at opposite ends, as both a troupe of misspent misfits and raucous team of inspired rock clairvoyants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, that hasn’t stopped Jim Carroll<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set upon a canvas stretched by producer (and film score composer) Anton Sanko(Suzanne Vega, Strangeland<\/em> score), Pools of Mercury<\/em> is Jim’s first for Mercury Records. For the album sessions, Jim called on his old friend Lenny Kaye, along with Truly’s Robert Roth and an assorted cast of ready-and-willing players, and work began in earnest at a downtown New York studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released concurrently with Void of Course<\/em>, Jim’s new collection of poetry, Pools of Mercury<\/em> is an intense combination of new songs and music-backed spoken-wordpieces, including “8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain”–which Jim first performed in April, 1994 on MTV, in the wake of the Nirvana leader’s death, and was later published in The New York Times<\/em> on New Year’s Day, 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhausted by the time he hit 28, Jim fled to California in the late 70s in an attempt to put his relationship with heroin to bed. In 1978, during a Patti Smith tour inCalifornia, Jim hooked up with his friends from the City and hitched a ride to catch the shows. One night in San Diego, Patti found herself stuck without an opening act. Jim was nominated for the job. Patti stepped onstage and introduced “the guy who taught me how to write poetry.” Inspired, Jim let it fly–ranting a free-form lyrical language as Patti and the band backed him up. The crowd went nuts, and a rock starwas born–though it was a difficult labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, Jim hooked up with the Bay Area band Amsterdam and together they became The Jim Carroll Band<\/em>. The group played the San Francisco club circuit to great acclaim and word-of-mouth raves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jim returned to New York for the first time in five years to sign contracts with Bantam for the mass market paperback publication of The Basketball Diaries<\/em>, he also brought a demo tape with him. As the story goes, he brought the tape to Rolling Stones Records President Earl McGrath to see what he thought. The tape also made its way into the hands of Keith Richards. That sealed it. Jim was signed to RSR, distributed by Atlantic Records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In describing a Jim Carroll Band<\/em> concert in 1980, just prior to the release of his Catholic Boy<\/em> debut, writer Lynn Hirschberg reported overhearing a Oui<\/em> photographer remark, “You’re watching the Dylan of the 80s, you know\u2026.Seeing Jim Carroll<\/strong> now\u2026is like witnessing history.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Along with the city sense of my lyrics, I like to have music that’s real dirty, straight rock ‘n’ roll without any frills to it, that has an immediate impact,” said Jim at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When John Lennon was assassinated in December 1980, People Who Died<\/em>, Catholic Boy<\/em>‘s blazing single, was one of the most-requested songs on FM radio, just after Lennon’s own “Imagine.” The song had impact. As Newsweek’s<\/em> Barbara Graustark noted, it in effect “propelled [Carroll] from underground status\u2026to national attention as a contender for the title of rock’s new poet laureate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The release of Catholic Boy<\/em>, along with the publication of his now-classic book, The Basketball Diaries<\/em>, shot Jim and his band into the international spotlight. Cover stories appeared in RollingStone<\/em>, New York<\/em>, Creem<\/em>, Interview<\/em>, Melody Maker<\/em> and Penthouse<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expression continued through to Carroll’s celebrated Dry Dreams<\/em> in 1982 and I Write YourName<\/em> in 1984. However, with the fulfillment of his three-album deal with Atlantic, he embarked on a 14-year vacation from rock ‘n’ roll. Still, he had left an indelible mark on music and minds and, nearly 20 years later, Catholic Boy<\/em> is widely regarded as one of the last great original punk albums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descended from three generations of Irish Catholic bartenders, Carroll was born in New York City in 1950. He spent his childhood living on the city’s Lower East Side, attending Catholic schools. At age 12, shortly before his family moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he began keeping the journal that would eventually be published as The Basketball Diaries<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His diaries immediately attracted the attention of the literary crowd around him. When he published his first collection of poetry at age 16 and excerpts from The Basketball Diaries<\/em> were printed in the Paris Review<\/em>, he was hailed as a genuine prodigy and given the official nod by the Beat generation’s kingpins. Jack Kerouac observed “At 13 years of age, Jim Carroll<\/strong> writes better prose than 89% of the novelists working today.” Likewise, William Burroughs dubbed Carroll “a born writer.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A best-selling author of six books, including 1973’s award winning Living At The Movies<\/em>, and his critically lauded Praying Mantis<\/em> spoken word album, Carroll continues to pack concert halls for his poetry performances. As he continues to inspire new generations of writers, he regularly collaborates on any variety of musical projects–most recently Rancid’s “Junkie Man.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional songwriting credits include work with artists as diverse as Marcus Miller, Blue Oyster Cult, 7 Year Bitch, and Sonic Youth. He has performed with Keith Richards, Richard Hell, Marianne Faithfull, Ray Manzarek, Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs. He has recorded with Pearl Jam, Lou Reed, and John Cale. At the same time, a 20-song Jim Carroll Band<\/strong> tribute album, Put Your Tongue to the Rail<\/em>, is nearing completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Pools of Mercury<\/em>, it’s all true Jim Carroll<\/strong>–“organic and honest,” as he explains. “That is: We participate in your consciousness, and you participate in ours.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This biographical sketch is the property of Mercury Records<\/a>. It is reproduced here because, despite my repeated e-mails to the webmaster pointing them out, serious HTML errors in their version render half of the text invisible in Netscape browsers. — Webmaster <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Max’s Kansas City has gone highbrow and Midtown; heroin has a chic; and punk rock has gone the acceptable and safe shopping mall route–not exactly the world Jim Carroll thrust himself into as a carpe diem teen and literary rookie genius. It’s not the universe that welcomed The Jim Carroll Band, at opposite ends, as … Continue reading Jim Carroll: Mercury Records Biographical Sketch 1998<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4162,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"folder":[43],"class_list":["post-10044","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2C0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4056,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carroll-music-and-spoken-word\/music-jim-carroll-jim-carroll-band\/","url_meta":{"origin":10044,"position":0},"title":"Music by Jim Carroll & The Jim Carroll Band","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Runaway EP Released: 2000 By: Jim Carroll Label: Kill Rock Stars Get this recording on Amazon Pools of Mercury Released: 1998 By: Jim Carroll Label: Mercury Get this recording on Amazon A World Without Gravity: The Best of the Jim Carroll Band Released: 1993 By: The Jim Carroll Band Label:\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover Art - Runaway EP (2000) - by Jim Carroll","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/runaway.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4057,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carroll-music-and-spoken-word\/music-jim-carroll-jim-carroll-band\/pools-of-mercury\/","url_meta":{"origin":10044,"position":1},"title":"Pools of Mercury","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Pools of MercuryBy Jim CarrollMercury Records, October 1998 Get this on Amazon.com LINER NOTES Produced by Anton SankoRecorded and mixed by Denny McNerney Mastered by Denny McNerneyRecorded & mastered at Easter Island Recording, NYC (212-229-2949)Assistant engineering--Jim Naisby The Poems: \"I Am Not Kurt Schwitters,\" \"Things That Fly,\" \"It Goes,\" and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover Art - Pools of Mercury (1998) - by Jim Carroll","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pom.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3992,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":10044,"position":2},"title":"Jim Carroll’s Interviews","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"These, arranged in reverse chronological order, represent just a few of Carroll's interviews. I continue to add more as I have time; most of the newest additions are PDFs. Margo Tiffen, A Previously Unpublished Jim Carroll Interview Surfaces.\" Poetry Foundation 17 May 2017. M. Patricia Li, \"Basketball Diaries Author Bounces\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4519,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carroll-music-and-spoken-word\/spoken-word-lecture-recordings-by-jim-carroll\/","url_meta":{"origin":10044,"position":3},"title":"Spoken-Word\/Lecture Recordings by Jim Carroll","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"See also: Spoken-Word: Collaborations Pools of MercuryReleased: 1998By: Jim CarrollLabel: MercuryGenre: Music and spoken word Get this album on Amazon Curtis's Charm: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackReleased: 1996By: Music by Mark Korven with songs by My Brilliant BeastLabel: Rabid Dog ProductionsGenre: Film soundtrack Carroll reads \"Curtis's Charm,\" from Fear of Dreaming.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/naropa-university_174.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/naropa-university_174.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/naropa-university_174.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3987,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/music-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":10044,"position":4},"title":"Audio Reviews","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are some reviews of \"audio recordings.\" So far the reviews are of albums by the Jim Carroll Band and solo albums by Jim Carroll\u00a0. More to come later . . . Runaway EP Matt Ashare, \"Jim Carroll:\u00a0Runaway.\"\u00a0Boston Phoenix, 4-11 Jan. 2001.\"Carroll gives 'Runaway' his best shot, and he gets\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4211,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/poet-jim-carroll-waxes-lyrical-on-return-to-rock\/","url_meta":{"origin":10044,"position":5},"title":"Poet Jim Carroll Waxes Lyrical On Return To Rock","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Colin DevenishEdited by Michael GoldbergSonicNet Music News of the World 24 November 1998 After 14 years out of rock scene, author\/singer returns with latest album of songs, Pools of Mercury. Contributing Editor Colin Devenish reports: After more than a decade out of the rock scene, poet and author Jim\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10045,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10044\/revisions\/10045"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=10044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}