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]
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