Living with Legends

From the comment section of Rolling Stone, by commentor Dennis Spencer.

"In 1978 I lived at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. One afternoon I heard a knock on my door. When I opened it there stood a tall, drugged- out looking, skinny guy about my age with stringy red hair. With  him were two other guys that were larger and even scarier looking than him.

With a fast talking New York accent and a desperate tone the red- headed one held up an LP and blasted into this rapid fire sales pitch:

“Listen, I know you don’t know me but my name is Jim Carroll and I have a band called The Jim Carroll Band and I am on Rolling Stones

Records and Tapes. I have a single coming out next month called “People Who Died”. I just this minute got back from England and what I have here in my hand is a copy of the new Rolling Stones album called
“Some Girls”.This the ONLY copy that exists in the United States. I haven’t even heard it. Nobody has heard it, not one single person in the U.S. has heard it, but YOU can be the first. My only question to
you is: Do you have a stereo?”

Now wait a second, yes I had a stereo, a very nice one as a matter of fact. More importantly I also had a fair amount of drugs in my room that took a whole day of hustling to get and I wasn’t about to let this trio of losers bust into my room and take my shit.

The album did look authentic though with the Rolling Stones logo and the red-head’s story had a ring of authenticity so I let them in.

As everyone knows the first song on the album is “Miss You” which begins that opening line “nah nah nah nanana” in falsetto. We all had a hard time figuring out if I had the turntable set at the right speed but of course I did. We then listened to both sides of this fabulous
album and it was of course, great.

On the way out Jim flipped a paper back book to me which of course was “Basketball Diaries” and said: “Check it out, this is the story of my life. One day you can say you met me.”

Now I am glad to say that I did.

[ROLLING STONE/"Basketball Diaries" author,Punk Icon Jim Carroll dead at 60]