I, like many other Bob Dylan fans, am waiting anxiously for the highly anticipated Bob Dylan bio-pic to come to the movie theaters Christmas Day 2024. Titled A Complete Unknown looks like a winner. The film released by Searchlight Pictures is directed by James Mangold and has a star studded cast with Timothee Chalamet playing Bob Dylan.
A life-long Bob Dylan fan like myself who started with his first record the
Bob Dylan album (1962) can’t seem to get enough of the old stuff he put out way back when I was in high school. The television ads I saw for the film were on the Football casts this weekend. To me that means the powers that be believe in this film and I do hope they will promote it to the max! It should be a great Christmas present to all of us Bob Dylan fans out there in the USA and elsewhere.
Like a Rolling Stone
Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan
A stellar cast and director bring to life many of my musician heroes from as far back as high school. In the movie. A Complete Unknown director James Mangold deals with the history of the bard from Hibbing and his arrival from Minnesota in New York City in the 1960s when he shook up the music industry. The film is complete with some of the coffee house appearances and encounters with Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, others, and his eventual road manager Bob Neuwirth.
Mr. Tambourine Man
The movie shows the very controversial live set at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 where Dylan played his first ‘electric’ music with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band as his back up group. The folk music industry and fans were upset that Dylan moved away from folk acoustic music. Maybe it will show Ramblin’ Jack Elliot (a serious folk singer) throwing his hat at Dylan’s face while he’s on stage with those ‘electric music maniacs’ which many of the old folkies thought of electric bands.
Elle Fanning as singer Sylvie Russo with Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan
The Dylan ‘Controversy’
In March 1965, Dylan released his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. Side one features him backed by an electric rock band, while side two features him accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. On July 20, 1965, he released his single Like a Rolling Stone featuring a more fully integrated folk rock sound. On July 25, 1965, he performed his first concert with electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival, joined by pianist Barry Goldberg of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, guitarist Mike Bloomfield, bassist Jerome Arnold, drummer Sam Lay, and with Al Kooper playing organ on Like a Rolling Stone. Some sections of the audience booed the performance. Members of the folk movement criticized him for moving away from political songwriting and for performing with a rock band, including Irwin Silber and Ewan MacColl. Dylan continued his trend towards rock music on his next two albums, Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966).
Don’t Think Twice Its Alright
Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival 1965
On subsequent tours throughout 1965 and 1966, his electric sets (now backed by the Hawks) were often met with derisiveness from the audience. Crowds became particularly acrimonious during a British tour, including an oft-cited incident in Manchester, where a member of the crowd shouted “Judas!” at Dylan.
Shows from this tour have been documented in several Dylan documentaries, including 2005’s No Direction Home. Over time Dylan continued to evolve musically, turning to country music on Nashville Skyline (1969), and drifting through numerous styles throughout the rest of his career. Retrospectively, his electric period has come to be recognized by critics and fans as producing some of his best music, and his controversial performance at Newport has been considered a pivotal moment in the development of folk rock. The problems that were envisioned by the serious Folk Music crowd actually became blessings because of Dylan’s new version of Folk music appealing to a much larger audience, this got the standard bearers of that genre more fame for themselves.
A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan was born in 1941 as Robert Zimerman in Minnesota. He has been popular in culture for over 60 years. In the early 1960s he performed in the folk scene of Greenwich Village, developing relationships with Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Dave Van Ronk, Odetta, and others. He became a protest folk singer during the civil rights and anti-war movements. He toured with Joan Baez who helped him with his career.
Dylan is considered one of the greatest and most influential singer-songwriters. Having composed hundreds of songs, many singers have recorded covers of his music. Over time Dylan expanded his music into other genes such as folk rock, blues, gospel, country, pop, and jazz.
He has been awarded 10 Grammys with 38 nominations, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Hall of the Fame, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and others.
A short list of entertainers Dylan performed with include Joan Baez, Al Cooper, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Leon Russell, Johnny Cash, The Band, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, David Crosby, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Muddy Waters, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and others.
Monica Babato as Joan Baez with Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan
Cast and Crew
The movie’s cast plays the major players that worked with Bob Dylan in his early career.
The films’ director James Mangold is an acclaimed filmmaker who has received 4 Oscars, 3 BAFTAs, and 3 Golden Globes. He is known for such films as Copland, Girl Interupted, Walk the Line, 3:60 to Yuma, Identity, Wolverine, Logan, Ford v. Ferrari, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and others.
Popular actor Timothee Chalamet plays Bob Dylan, he has acted in film, TV, and stage and has been nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, SAG, and 3 Golden Globes. He is known for Wonky, Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, Dune, and Beautiful Boy.
Highway 61 Revisited
Highly acclaimed actor Ed Norton plays folk singer Pete Seeger. Norton is known for Fight Club, American History X, Primal Fear, and The Score. He has received a Golden Globe and nominations for 3 Oscar, 2 Emmy, and 2 BAFTA.
Popular actress Elle Fanning plays Sylvie Russo the girlfriend of Bob Dylan, she is known for Super 8, The Neon Demon, Somewhere, and Maleficent the Great.
Monica Barbara plays folk singer Joan Baez, she is known for Top Gun Maverick, FUBAR, Un Real, Splitting Up Together, and At Midnight.
Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash
Boyd Hobrook plays country singer Johnny Cash, he is known for Logan, The Predator, The Host, and In the Shadow of the Moon.
Scoot McNay, a seasoned actor of many film and TV productions, he plays folk singer Woodie Guthrie. McNay is known for Argo, Monsters, 12 Years a Slave, and Killing Them Softly.
Other cast members include:
- Dan Fogler plays Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan
- Will Harrison plays Bob Neuwirth, road manager for Bob Dylan
- Charlie Tahan plays musician Al Cooper
- Will Price plays musician Paul Butterfield
- Eli Brown plays musician Mike Bloomfield
Subterranean Homesick Blues
A Complete Unknown movie soundtrack of Bob Dylan songs, reported by Spotify.
- Knockin’ On Heavens Door
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Blowin’ In thr Wind
- Hurricane
- Girl From the North Country
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Lay, Lady, Lay
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Tangled Up In Blue
- I Want You
- Shelter From the Storm
- All Along the Watch Tower
- One More Cup of Coffee
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan 1960s albums, all released by Columbia Records.
- Bob Dylan, 1962
- The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, 1963
- The Times They Are A-Changin’, 1964
- Another Side of Bob Dylan, 1964
- Bring It All Back Home, 1965
- Highway 61 Revisited, 1965
- Blonde On Blonde, 1966
- John Wesley Harding, 1967
- Nashville Skyline, 1967
