A Complete Unknown
word of advice : This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for A Complete Unknown !
The land singer Johnny Cash act an essential role in the Bob Dylan biopic , A Complete Unknown , raising query about what their real - life friendship looked like and how it compared to the moving-picture show . Bob Dylan is considered one of the better songwriters of all time , making him a popular subject field for documentaries and biopics . In 2024 , director James Mangold releasedA Complete Unknown , a motion-picture show that followsBob Dylan ’s life in the early 1960s .
Many folk singers from the era appear in the motion-picture show , but onecharacter inA Complete Unknownmight surprise TV audience – Johnny Cash . At first coup d’oeil , the singer ’s inclusion body might feel like a promo for Mangold ’s 2005 music biopicWalk the billet . However , Cash ’s appearing fits within the narrative ofA Complete Unknownbecause the Isaac Bashevis Singer had a four - tenner - long friendship with Bob Dylan .
Johnny Cash Initiated A Pen-Pal Relationship With Bob Dylan In The Early 1960s
Johnny Cash Became A Huge Fan Of Bob Dylan Early In His Career
Like in A Complete Unknown , Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan first became friends through letters written back and off . Cash wrote about what inspired him to compose to Dylan in his memoir Johnny Cash : An Autobiography . The area singer became a lover of the folk vocalist betimes in his vocation . Eventually , he felt compelled to spell a letter to Bob Dylan , expressing his admiration for the up - and - arriver ’s medicine . He start take heed toThe Freewheelin ’ Bob Dylanon a portable disk player backstage , before and after every show .
Unbeknownst to him , Dylan had been a lover of Cash since he heard “ I Walk The Line ” in 1955 or 1956 , and he view the singer his graven image . This was the beginning of their four - decade - farsighted friendship , during which they stand behind each other ’s melodious choices . However , they would correspond back and forth for some time before meeting in person for the first time . Cash ’s book of account explain thatthey write back and forth about their music , their societal roundabout , and the citizenry in their genres . They only ceased write letters once they met in soul .
Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash Probably Met Before The 1964 Newport Folk Festival
Bob Dylan & John Carter Cash Suggest The Singers Met Before Newport
The report of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash confluence one another for the first sentence has become a myth of sorts , with most the great unwashed thinking they first met backstage at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival . This is the version that A Complete Unknown chooses to depict onscreen . However , the duet most likely meet before that festival , based on statements from both John Carter Cash – the son of Johnny Cash – and Bob Dylan .
After Johnny Cash passed out from diabetes - interrelate complications on September 12 , 2003 , Bob Dylan was asked to write a eulogy , whichRolling Stonepublished . During his eulogy , Dylan let out that the dyad first meet in either 1962 or 1963.If the only author were Dylan ’s statement , there would be good intellect to doubt the truth of the matter . After all , Dylan is count an unreliable narrator , and he spend his early vocation lying about growing up with the carnival .
While these story bestow the myth into interrogative , they do n’t change the implication of the 1964 Newport Folk Festival , where Johnny Cash passed his guitar to Bob Dylan in real living .
Custom Image by Dani Kessel Odom
However , John Carter Cash also asserted that Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan met in a dissimilar way than in the myth . During a Reddit AMA , the caption ’s Logos tell that his father used to narrate the narrative of the duo meeting for the first clock time ( viaUproxx).They reportedly first met in the other 1960s in a New York City hotel room . At this point , Bob Dylan ran into the room , jump out on the layer , and started intone , “ I run into Johnny Cash ” over and over . Considering the festival is in Rhode Island , the duo meeting in NYC would indicate they met sometime before Newport .
Actor Timothée Chalamet takes on the theatrical role of Bob Dylan in the 2024 biopic , A Complete Unknown , but how does he compare to the actual vocaliser ?
While these story land the myth into interrogation , they do n’t change the significance of the 1964 Newport Folk Festival , where Johnny Cash passed his guitar to Bob Dylan in tangible life . This is a preindication of respect in the country music genre Additionally , like inA Complete Unknown , the body politic singer played an galvanizing stage set , proving that Dylan was n’t the first to take that footmark . As such , the negative response from folk purists at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival had less to do with electric tool being played at the fete and more to do with the fact that it was Bob Dylan playing electric .
Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Johnny Cash Publicly Defended Bob Dylan’s Music Choices
Johnny Cash Spoke Up For Bob Dylan In Early 1964
The friendly relationship between Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan was no big secret , with the duo speaking extremely of each other on many occasions . However , one of the most meaningful result solidified their comradery . Johnny Cash wrote a letter to the editor program of Broadside Magazine , which appeared in issue # 41 and came out on March 10 , 1964 ( viaSing Out!).The short alphabetic character , which say like a verse form , allege this :
HI BROADSIDE : I sustain hung , but did n’t decease … Bob Dylan slung his R-2 . I sat down and heed fast … Gravy from that Einstein is duncish . He began by startin ’ alright … But the place he started … Was manner ahead , out of sight ! In the night there ’s a light . A lamp is burning in all our dark … But … We must open our eyes to see it … As he listened for the wind … To hear it .
Near my shores of mental dying , seizing straws and twigs , and drowning , Worthless I , But crying the loudest , Came a Poet Troubadour Singing fine conversant things . Sang a hundred thousand lyrics , Right as Rain , Sweet as Sleep , Words to thrill you … And to kill you . Do n’t bad - rima oris him , till you hear him , Let him embark on by continuing , He ’s almost brand new ,
SHUT UP ! … AND LET HIM SING !
… .. Johnny Cash
Bob Dylan mentioned how much this meant to him in his eulogy for Johnny Cash , arrogate he still had a written matter of the powder magazine at the metre of his friend ’s death . Though they left out this import , theychanged the true story ofA Complete Unknownby add a scene at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where Cash assure his acquaintance that he wants to hear the Sung dynasty that Dylan wants to play .
Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
This scene reaffirm the substance of Johnny Cash ’s alphabetic character , albeit in an inner manner instead of publicly . The land Isaac Merrit Singer understood the value of Bob Dylan ’s medicine and lyrics , want to hear what his supporter had to say , even if it mean a shift in style or theme .
Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan Collaborated On Music A Few Times
Johnny Cash And Bob Dylan Sing Together On One Bootleg Bob Dylan Album
Bob Dylan continued his musical career afterA Complete Unknown , putting out 40 studio albums . With such an expansive portfolio , it ’s unsurprising to learn that Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan join forces on medicine a couple of times . The best - known instance of this is the Song dynasty “ Girl from the North Country , ” which they sing as a duet forThe Nashville Skylinealbum . For a long clock time , this was the only officially released song where they sang together . The duet also comprehend each other ’s vocal multiple time . However , this is far from the only fourth dimension they ’ve worked together .
James Mangold tackles Bob Dylan ’s lifetime and career during the 1960s . We break down the biopic ’s ending and how it compare to Dylan ’s real lifespan .
Bob Dylan actually write the song “ Wanted Man , ” which Johnny Cash first released on the 1969 live albumAt San Quentin . The duo recorded a demonstration of the strain together , which in conclusion came out under the rubric “ Wanted Man ( Take 1 ) ” in 2019 . Bob Dylan also seem on The Johnny Cash Show in 1969 , perform these three songs :
In addition to these instances , Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan planned to make an album together , so they immortalise numerous songs while Dylan was working onThe Nashville Skyline . unhappily , they were n’t able-bodied to eat up the album , so the music did n’t come out back in 1969 .
However , Dylan decided to release more than two dozen tracks from the transcription session in his albumThe Bootleg Series Vol . 15 : Travelin ’ Thru , 1967 - 1969 , which came out in November 2019 . It feels like a breathing space of impudent air to listen to these tracks . Rather than sound svelte and overproduced , these song – none of which seem inA Complete Unknown ’s soundtrack – feel like two friends jamming .
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