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Rocker, 'Basketball Diaries' Author Jim Carroll Dies at 60

Jim Carroll, an icon of the underground for his memoir, 'The Basketball Diaries,' died Friday, Sept. 11, in his New York City apartment of a heart attack, his ex-wife Rosemary Carroll told the New York Times. He was 60.

Carroll also enjoyed success as the frontman for the band that sported his name, with the touching punk rock ode, 'People Who Died,' a furiously paced list of his fallen comrades, enjoying alternative radio success in the early '80s and turning up surprisingly on the soundtrack for 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,' when Steven Spielberg chose the song for the opening scene of the film. He recorded multiple albums, including 'Dry Dreams' and 'I Write Your Name.'

Carroll's music connections always ran deep, with his stream of consciousness flow and storied life, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film adaption of 'The Basketball Diaries,' being a perfect fit with the New York CBGB scene of the '70s. In fact, it was Patti Smith, who brought Carroll up on stage to share his poetry during a late '70s tour, that led him to form the Jim Carroll Band. He was eventually signed to Atlantic Records at the urging of Keith Richards. And while Carroll would take a 14-year absence from music, returning in 1998 with 'Pools of Mercury,' he remained a force in the music world, writing lyrics for acts like Blue Oyster Cult and performing live occasionally with the Doors' Ray Manzarek as part of a spoken word act.


He has been largely out of public eye in recent years, working on a novel he had been speaking of for some time, but the influence of 'Basketball Diaries' has never waned, with a new generation of musicians, like Pearl Jam, who recorded the title track to 'Catholic Boy' with Carroll for the film version of the book, Rancid, who invited Carroll to write part of the track 'Junky Man,' and Marilyn Manson and Drive-By Truckers, who covered Carroll songs, sharing his legacy.

He also wrote 'The Basketball Diaries' sequel 'Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries, 1971 - 1973,' and the critically lauded collections of poetry, 'Book of Nods' and 'Fear of Dreaming.' But it was 'The Basketball Diaries' for which he will forever be immortalized. I spent an afternoon with Carroll in 1998 in NYC and he talked about the influence of the book. "I remember doing this radio show to promote the soundtrack album to 'The Basketball Diaries," he recalled. "All these kids would call in and sayin' I saw the movie & how could you put out all that stuff about your life, how did you get the nerve to do that? I'd say something like, which is true, if you're going to be a writer you have to be able to put out everything about yourself."

Carroll is survived by a brother, Tom.

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Scott W

Jim Carrol....wow....probably the most underrated rock star of all time. Had the chance to see him live in 1980 at Buffalo State University..man, what a show!!!
To me...Catholic Boy, is one of the greatest albums ever released..no soft spots at all.
Rest In Peace Mr. Carrol...you will be missed, but i will always listen to your music.....

February 16 2010 at 8:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
msmike

He was an amazing human being. A survivor and overcame much in his life. He wrote the "Basketball Diaries" but then, you probably don't read anything more complicated than these boards. Careful, dear, you get what you give in this life and one of these days someone is going to ask "who cares?" when something happens to you.

September 14 2009 at 9:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
steven lanzoff

jimmy rest peace brother."ONE THING ABOUT MUSIC,WHEN IT HITS YOU,YOU FEEL NO PAIN"

September 14 2009 at 8:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Johnny K.

Wow! Just got my new Paste Magazine in the mail today with a nice full-page article "Jim Carroll and the Punk Pulitzer."

September 14 2009 at 7:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
budbirdlight05

Poppa~
Can we post that comment as a standard on like, every AOL message board? It should just follow every article.
Rest in Peace Jim. Truly an interesting man with a lot of experiences none of us probably ever went through to draw from.

September 14 2009 at 6:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
joe

It comes as shock.

Not that he died.

But because we live on. Scrutinize this aholes!

September 14 2009 at 5:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rockin

Later Jimbo
Peace

September 14 2009 at 5:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
markrconte14

"Poet-Rocker is an oxymoron

September 14 2009 at 5:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rae

its to late, to fall in love with Sharon Tate....R.I.P Jim

September 14 2009 at 5:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
al sullivan

I saw him perform his poetry and his music at the Bottom Line in New York some years ago. He stunned me with his ability and saddened me that his life went so haywire. See you in the next world, friend.

September 14 2009 at 4:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply