Catholic Boy

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Catholic Boy
Catholic Boy (The Jim Carroll Band album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by
The Jim Carroll Band
ReleasedJanuary 3, 1980
RecordedJune - August 1979
GenreNew wave, punk rock
Length38:26
LabelAtco
ProducerEarl McGrath, Bob Clearmountain
The Jim Carroll Band chronology
Catholic Boy
(1980) 		Dry Dreams
(1982)

Catholic Boy (1980) is the debut album by The Jim Carroll Band, led by Jim Carroll, who is notable for publishing the 1978 memoir The Basketball Diaries, and poetry collections including Living at the Movies. They were able to secure a recording contract with Atlantic Records with the support of the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, and Catholic Boy has been referred to as the last great punk album. It included arguably the group's most famous song, "People who Died", which is a catalogue of young people Carroll knew growing up who met tragic ends: "Judy jumped in front of a subway train, and Eddy got slit in the jugular vein…" The album cover shows Carroll standing with his parents, photographed by Annie Leibovitz, outside their apartment block on the corner of Cumming Street and Seaman Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.

Songs[]

"Crow" was written about Patti Smith's falling offstage and breaking vertebrae in her neck, resulting in the need for 22 stitches, at a show in Tampa, Florida, in 1976. She later claimed that God had pushed her.[1]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4.5/5 stars[2]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[3]
Rolling Stone3/5 stars[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide4/5 stars[5]

Billboard said of Catholic Boy: "Carroll declaims more than he sings; his songs coming in a torrent of words and images. The sensibilities here are similar to Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, but former Rolling Stones label chief Earl McGrath keeps the production well within the mainstream."[6]

Cover versions[]

"People Who Died" has been covered multiple times: John Cale on the album Antártida (1995), Drive-By Truckers on the live album Alabama Ass Whuppin' (2000), Lordz of Brooklyn on the album The Brooklyn Way (2006), Paradime on his Spill At Will album (2007), The Wildhearts on the album ¡Chutzpah! Jnr. (2009), Fang on the album Here Come The Cops (2012), and Willie Nile on the album American Ride (2013). In 2014, Gwar appended a version of "People Who Died" onto their cover of the Pet Shop Boys song "West End Girls" for The A.V. Club's Undercover series, with lyrics paying tribute to their recently deceased singer, Oderus Urungus (a.k.a. Dave Brockie). A cover of the song by the band Against Me! was included on the 2018 compilation album Songs That Saved My Life. In 2019, Hollywood Vampires recorded a version on their second album, Rise.

"Catholic Boy" was played by Jim Carroll with Pearl Jam as backing band on the soundtrack of the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries.

Track listing[]

  1. "Wicked Gravity" (Jim Carroll) – 4:56
  2. "Three Sisters" (Carroll, Terrell Winn) – 3:19
  3. "Day and Night" (Carroll, Allen Lanier) – 2:22
  4. "Nothing Is True" (Carroll, Brian Linsley) – 3:29
  5. "People Who Died" (Carroll, Brian Linsley, Stephen Linsley, Terrell Winn, Wayne Woods) – 4:59
  6. "City Drops into the Night" (Carroll, Stephen Linsley, Brian Linsley) – 7:23
  7. "Crow" (Carroll, Terrell Winn) – 3:02
  8. "It's Too Late" (Carroll, Wayne Woods) – 3:04
  9. "I Want the Angel" (Carroll, Brian Linsley) – 2:49
  10. "Catholic Boy" (Carroll) – 3:03

Personnel[]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[7]

Charts[]

Chart (1980–81) Peak
position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[8] 50
US Billboard 200[9] 73

References[]

  1. ^ Poseur: A Memoir of Downtown New York City in the '90s (Marc Spitz)
  2. ^ Deming, Mark. "Catholic Boy – Jim Carroll / Jim Carroll Band". AllMusic. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "The Jim Carroll Band: Catholic Boy". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  4. ^ Tucker, Ken (February 5, 1981). "Jim Carroll: Catholic Boy". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  5. ^ Evans, Paul (1992). "Jim Carroll". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). New York: Random House. p. 113. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
  6. ^ "Billboard's Top Album Picks" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 85 no. 44. Los Angeles. November 1, 1980. p. 88. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 30, 2020 – via World Radio History.
  7. ^ Catholic Boy (liner notes). The Jim Carroll Band. Atco Records. 1980. SD 38-132.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ "Charts.nz – The Jim Carroll Band – Catholic Boy". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "Billboard 200". Billboard. March 7, 1981. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
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