Spoken-word Performance
By Jim Carroll
Audiocassette
Naropa Institute Archives, July 1986
This hard-to-get tape features a spoken-word performance Carroll gave during his1986 summer at the Naropa Institute in Colorado, where he has frequently given writing workshops over the years.
It’s an interesting recording for a number of reasons. First, it is the only complete reading available as an official, authorized recording. Second, Carroll is introduced by Allen Ginsberg. Shortly thereafter, Carroll reads–what else?–“The Poet and the Vibrator.” Third, Carroll is giving this reading before the publication of Forced Entries, so it’s a rare treat to hear him refer to the woman in “A Day at the Races” by her real name, “Patti Lee” (Patti Smith is “Jenny Ann” in the book.)
The reading includes the following:
- Introduction by Allen Ginsberg
- A Day at the Races
- The Poet and the Vibrator
- The New Ordeal
- With Van Gogh
- Homage to Gerard Manley Hopkins
- Reaching France
- For Elizabeth
- Heroes (for Phil Ochs)
- Nightclubbing
- A Child Growing Up With the Sun
- In the Gears
Like other “archive” tapes (such as the 1978 Rimbaud Lecture tapes), there is no cover art to speak of. The recording is dubbed onto a 90-minute Maxell cassette with sticker labels and a hot-pink paper “cover” inserted into the case. The Naropa Institute logo (shown above) and “Naropa Institute Archives” is printed on the front of the “cover.” The side label and stickers identify the tape as “#64 Jim Carroll 7/86 Reading.” The back flap provides the following address:
Naropa Institute Archives Project
c/o The Naropa Institute Library
2130 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, Colorado 80302
(303) 444-0202