9 Ways A Complete Unknown Changes Bob Dylan’s Real Life

Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for A Complete Unknown!

A Complete Unknown tells an entertaining story about folk singer-turned-rocker Bob Dylan, but the film changes many details about the musician, his relationships, and his career. Bob Dylan is one of the most fascinating musicians of all time because of his enigmatic image and his profound impact on the music genres of folk and rock ‘n’ roll. Unsurprisingly, numerous movies and documentaries have focused on the singer, including the 2024 music biopic A Complete Unknown.

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The movie follows Bob Dylan’s life in the 1960s, unpacking the immense pushback he experienced when transitioning from acoustic instruments to electric. As shown in A Complete Unknown, this decision ruffled the feathers of folk-purists who saw him as a traitor. While core elements of the narrative match with the true story, the film fabricates, changes, or omits major details about Bob Dylan’s life.

A Complete Unknown is based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! Dylan, Seeger, Newport, and the Night that Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald

9

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash Met Before The 1964 Newport Folk Festival

Dylan and Cash First Meeting At The 1964 Newport Folk Festival Is A Myth

The friendship between Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan is one of the few relationships in A Complete Unknown that offers a strong insight into Dylan’s mind. They write letters back and forth until they finally meet in real life at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. This storyline isn’t an egregious change because this version is actually a common myth that fans believe. However, this has been debunked by both Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash’s son.

During his eulogy, which Rolling Stone published, Bob Dylan revealed that the friends met for the first time in either 1962 or 1963, which would mean they already knew one another in person before the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. This matches up with the story that Johnny Cash’s son told during a Reddit AMA.

In the AMA (via Uproxx), John Carter Cash said that, in the early 1960s, his dad met Bob Dylan in a New York City hotel room after writing letters back and forth for some time. Dylan reportedly ran into the room and started jumping on the bed, saying, “I met Johnny Cash. I met Johnny Cash” – a hilariously relatable response. While this doesn’t specify the year, it does confirm that their first meeting wasn’t at the festival.

8

Bob Dylan Didn’t Meet Joan Baez Before She Became Famous

Joan Baez Was A Best-Selling Musician By The Time She Met Bob Dylan

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In A Complete Unknown, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan are both unsigned artists when they meet at an open mic night. Baez has an agent, but she still hasn’t been picked up by a label. The fact that they both are up-and-coming artists is a bonding factor for the pair. However, this is far from reality. When Dylan and Baez met, the “Barefoot Madonna” was already an internationally famous folk singer.

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According to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Baez’s professional career started in 1959 when popular folk singer Bob Gibson invited her to sing with him at the Newport Folk Festival. She appeared onstage wearing no shoes, for which she gained her nickname. After the performance, Vanguard Records and Capitol Records fought to sign the burgeoning star, with Baez choosing the former. Her self-titled 1960 album went gold, and it eventually spent 140 weeks on the Billboard Top 200. Between 1960 and 1964, Baez’s albums all became best-sellers, so she clearly had a leg up on Bob Dylan when she met him in 1961.

7

Bob Dylan Met Suze Rotolo When She Was A Teen

Suze Rotolo Was 17, And Bob Dylan Was 20 When They Met

Although they present Bob Dylan as a jerk at times, A Complete Unknown leaves out some of the more questionable details about the musician. In the movie, Dylan meets a young woman named Sylvie Russo, who works for a social justice organization, and they start a relationship. The A Complete Unknown character Sylvie Russo is based on Suze Rotolo, a Greenwich Village artist who was only 17 years old when she met 20-year-old Bob Dylan (via The New York Times). In his memoir, Dylan described her as “the most erotic thing I’d ever seen.”

The attitudes around a 20-year-old and 17-year-old dating and moving into an apartment together vary widely from person to person based on cultural and societal attitudes, so it was probably a better idea that A Complete Unknown seemed to age the character up. Elle Fanning doesn’t look like a 17-year-old, so it’s less likely to make some viewers uncomfortable.

6

Peter, Paul, & Mary Helped Make Bob Dylan Famous

The Folk Trio Helped Audiences Hear Bob Dylan’s Music

When Bob Dylan starts trying to make a name for himself in A Complete Unknown, he gives his songs to Joan Baez, who helps make his music popular. This isn’t untrue, but it leaves out another folk group who had just as big of an impact on Bob Dylan’s story – Peter, Paul, and Mary. The trio, which was formed in 1961, consisted of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers.

The massively popular group did a cover of “Blowin’ in the Wind” that hit #2 on the Billboard pop chart, exposing new audiences to Dylan’s work. They then performed the song at the March on Washington as well, furthering its reach. This was a significant deal since Bob Dylan’s version of the song didn’t reach the charts. Ultimately, Dylan might not have seen the same kind of success as an artist if it weren’t for the help of more established musicians like Joan Baez and Peter, Paul, and Mary.

5

Bob Dylan Married A Woman Shortly After Breaking Up With Joan Baez

Bob Dylan Married Sara Lownds in November 1965

Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

The breakup between Bob Dylan and Joan Baez happened suddenly, and the fallout was incredibly messy. Baez has discussed many times how heartbroken she felt about Dylan breaking things off. However, one thing rubbed salt in the wound – Bob Dylan’s sudden and surprising marriage to Sara Lownds (née Shirley Marlin Noznisky).

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The pair started having an affair in 1964 when Dylan was still with Baez and possibly Rotolo (depending on when in the year Lownds got together with Dylan). Dylan’s tour manager, Victor Maymundes, alleges that Dylan said he married Lownds instead of Baez because “Sara will be home when I want her to be home, she’ll be there when I want her to be there, she’ll do it when I want her to do it. Joan won’t be there when I want her. She won’t do it when I want to do it” (via Far Out Magazine).

This is another instance where details that might have made Dylan look bad didn’t appear in A Complete Unknown, which gives credence to the assertion that the movie is more of a hagiography than it is a biopic.

4

Pete Seeger Didn’t Have An Issue With Bob Dylan “Going Electric”

Seeger Repeatedly Stated He Didn’t Have A Problem With Dylan Playing The Electric Guitar At Newport

Another instance of A Complete Unknown telling the popular version of the story, even if it isn’t entirely accurate, is Pete Seeger’s reaction to Bob Dylan playing an electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The myth goes that Seeger got so mad that Dylan was using electric instruments that he threw a temper tantrum backstage and tried to take an axe to the power cords. However, Seeger actually wrote a postcard to Dylan sometime in the 1990s, clarifying what actually happened (via Far Out Magazine). This is what it said:

“Bob! Someone just told me that you too think I didn’t like your ‘going electric’ in 1965. I’ve denied that so many times. I was furious at the distorted sound – no one could understand the words of ‘Maggie’s Farm’ – and dashed over to the people controlling the PA system. ‘No, this is the way they want it,’ they said. I shouted, ‘If I had an axe, I’d cut the cable’, and I guess that’s what got quoted. My big mistake was in not challenging from the stage the foolish few who booed. I shoulda said, ‘Howlin Wolf goes electric, why can’t Bob?’ In any case, you keep on. Best, Pete.”

Ultimately, there are a few reasons why James Mangold might have included the mythologized version of events. The most likely answer is that he thought the overblown Seeger response better captured the story from Bob Dylan’s perspective. Alternatively, he might have shown Pete Seeger getting worked up and trying to stop the music because it added more tension and drama to the film’s climax. In either case, the backstage commotion does give Dylan’s choice to play electric more of an impact in A Complete Unknown.

3

Bob Dylan Didn’t Come Up With The Idea For The Police Whistle For “Highway 61 Revisited”

Al Kooper Provided The Police Whistle For The Recording

During an exclusive Q&A on December 18, 2024, with the director and cast of A Complete Unknown, for which a member of Screen Rant was present, Mangold said that he wanted to move away from the enigma image of Bob Dylan. However, A Complete Unknown reviews have pointed out that this didn’t succeed. One of the few moments where Dylan’s personality is more noticeable is when he’s recording “Highway 61 Revisited.”

Earlier in the movie, Dylan had previously bought a police whistle and decided to use it during the song, showing off his goofiness. However, in real life, Dylan wasn’t the one who had the idea to use a police whistle. According to Rolling Stone, Al Kooper used to wear a police whistle around his neck to use for drug situations. He suggested that Bob Dylan play the whistle instead of the harmonica.

2

The “Judas” Moment Happened During A 1966 Show

An Audience Member Shouted “Judas” Before Dylan’s Performance Of “Like A Rolling Stone”

Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

At the end of A Complete Unknown, an audience member shouts “Judas” at Bob Dylan during the intro for “Like a Rolling Stone” because he’s playing electric instead of acoustic. In response, he says, “I don’t believe you.” Then, he turns to his band and says, “Play it loud.” This matches up almost beat for beat with the real moment in rock ‘n’ roll history. After the real-life audience member shouted Judas, Dylan replied “I don’t believe you. You’re a liar. Play it f*cking loud.”

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Besides the profanity removal, there’s only one major difference between the movie and the actual incident. The Judas moment happened almost a year after the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when Bob Dylan was playing in Manchester. Ultimately, this change makes sense from a narrative standpoint because the heckler and response are iconic. It almost wouldn’t feel right to have a Bob Dylan movie without the “Judas” situation.

1

Bob Dylan Didn’t Talk To Johnny Cash At The 1965 Newport Folk Festival

Johnny Cash Didn’t Attend The 1965 Newport Folk Festival

One of the most meaningful moments of A Complete Unknown occurs when Bob Dylan runs into Johnny Cash while contemplating whether to play electric or acoustic. He wants to perform his new style, but the festival board pushes him to do acoustic folk music. Cash gives him a vote of confidence, telling him that he wants to hear the music that Dylan wants to play. This moment shows the unconditional support within the friendship, and it helps Dylan feel confident in his decision.

Despite its narrative significance, this interaction never happened in real life because Johnny Cash wasn’t at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The scene might have been created because Mangold wanted to show that Cash supported Dylan’s music, which was true. The country singer wrote a letter to the editor of Broadside magazine telling everyone to stop complaining about Bob Dylan’s music and let him sing the music he likes (via Far Out Magazine). Taking this into consideration, the scene in A Complete Unknown feels emotionally true, even if it’s factually inaccurate.

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A Complete Unknown

BiographyDramaMusic

Release Date

December 25, 2024

Main Genre

Biography

Cast

Timothée Chalamet
, Edward Norton
, Elle Fanning
, Monica Barbaro
, Nick Offerman
, Boyd Holbrook
, P.J. Byrne
, Scoot McNairy
, Dan Fogler
, Will Harrison
, Charlie Tahan
, Jon Gennari
, Norbert Leo Butz

Character(s)

Bob Dylan
, Pete Seeger
, Sylvie Russo
, Joan Baez
, Alan Lomax
, Johnny Cash
, Harold Levanthal
, Woody Guthrie
, Albert Grossman
, Bob Neuwirth
, Al Kooper
, Stage Manager

Director

James Mangold

Writers

Jay Cocks
, James Mangold

Studio(s)

Searchlight Pictures
, The Picture Company
, Automatik Entertainment

Distributor(s)

Searchlight Pictures

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Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
Category: Entertainment