Top 10 Things A Complete Unknown Got Factually Right and Wrong

want to tell you a little story welcome to watch Mojo and today we're looking at what's historically accurate and what was changed for dramatic effect in the Bob Dylan biopic a complete unknown you can be beautiful you can be ugly but you can't be plain number 10 Dylan went to New York to visit Woody Guthrie right a few months back my friend Woody Guthrie and I we met a young man the film opens with Dylan traveling to New York to see folk artist Woody Guthrie who helped shape his passion for music I roed and rambl

and followed my footsteps although that is true a complete unknown tweaks a few details Dylan arrived in the city with his friend Fred Underhill who's absent from the picture it's also implied that Dylan met Guthrie at the hospital when in reality he tracked him down to Bob and Cecil Gleason's apartment in East Orange New Jersey since his introduction to guth's work Dylan Like fellow Greenwich Village musician rambling Jack Elliott had begun to imitate not only the musical style but also the mannerisms of the ailing older artist that said Guthrie was being treated at Greystone Park

Psychiatric hospital for Huntington's disease as he lost the ability to speak and sing while Dylan hadn't Written song To Woody yet his friendship with Guthrie was naturally the inspiration behind this love letter to a folk Legend hey hey I wrote you a song number nine Dylan's introduction to Pete Seager wrong when Dylan meets Guthrie in the film fellow folk singer Pete Seager is also present since Dylan arrives with nothing but a guitar and the clothes on his back seagar takes the young artist under his roof and his wing like the wind Hurrican begins shipes in

seagar indeed played a key role in turning Dylan from a complete unknown to a folk music icon but their first encounter went [Music] differently speaking with rolling stone Seager remembered first hearing Dylan perform in Greenwich Village during the infancy of his career Seager invited him to a Carnegie Hall hoot nny where he told the singers they'd each get 10 minutes to sing no more than three songs according to seagar Dylan raised his hand in protest saying one of his songs was 10 minutes then the tide will sound and the wind will B and the M

will [Music] be number eight Dylan met Joan Bas at dir Folk City right Joan bz was already the queen of folk when she met a relatively unknown Bob Dylan in the movie bayz performs at Gertie's Folk City before Dylan comes on stage how about that Jo Bas folks she's pretty sing pretty after complimenting the previous act Dylan sings I was young when I left home as an entranced Bas watches from the audience some Liberties are taken here as bz and Dylan didn't perform back to back when they first met however the two who did meet

for the first time at this famed music [Music] venue having heard positive things Bas decided to check out Dylan's act although she was in attendance with her then boyfriend and supposedly thought Dylan looked like a quote Urban hillbilly she enjoyed song To Woody Dylan subsequently introduced himself leading to a collaboration and more think for you you'll have to decide where Judas is scer had God on his side number seven Dylan turned to Bas during the Cuban Missile Crisis wrong although Dylan and Bas had a romantic relationship the film omits several chapters yeah these CHS I

learned from a cowboy named wiggle fooot you were in a carnival for example Dylan was initially drawn to bias's sister Mimi who isn't present here a complete unknown implies that their relationship turned sexual while Dylan's girlfriend was out of town and the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred uncertain what tomorrow will bring Dylan brings Bas back to his place where the two spend the night together too hard excuse me you tried too hard to write really yeah if you're asking there's no record of this happening and given the timeline of their relationship it's unlikely that they were

sleeping together at this point the Cuban Missile Crisis would impact Dylan inspiring him to write a hard reign of going to fall you know the song was really uh going in directions aesthetically that I don't think anybody wanted to think too much about what the implications of that were here however Dylan and Bas sing blowing in the wind the morning after how many days will it take till he knows that too many people have died the my friend is blowing in the wind the answer is blowing in the wind number six Dylan's rainbow Quest episode

wrong from 1965 to 1966 Pete Seager hosted a folk music TV show called called rainbow quest which aired on the new york-based station wju tonight and in the weeks to come I'd like to invite you to come with me on a a rainbow quest to try and seek out all the different colors and kinds of human beings we have in our land although it only lasted 39 episodes rainbow Quest booked several big names from the Clancy Brothers to Johnny Cash and June Carter Bob Dylan was never on the show however the film suggests that Dylan

dropped by the set and was sporadically brought in front of the camera although Seager is already interviewing Jesse Moffet if you're wondering who Jesse Moffett is that's because no such musician exists but he is played by a real blue singer named Big Bill Morganfield as for Dylan's impromptu guest spot it's a fabrication like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow number five Dylan's friendship with Johnny Cash right since James Mangold also directed Walk the Line it isn't surprising that Johnny Cash plays another major role in this music biopic any you got a

cigarette yeah Cash's name is mentioned early on as Dylan enters the spotlight making a name for himself Dylan is delighted to receive a message from Johnny Cash one of his idols Dylan responds exchanging letters before eventually meeting in person in real life cash was compelled to write to the young folk musician after listening to the free wheel in Bob Dylan so if you're traveling the North Country already a fan of cashes Dylan didn't hesitate to form a friendship the pen pals finally met face to face at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival as Dylan later found

himself at odds with others in the folk Community cash encouraged him to make some noise Make some noise BD number four Dylan and Bob new Worth's elevator encounter wrong 200 people in that room and each one wants me to be somebody else and they should just let me be let you be what how of place at a high class New York party Dylan Retreats into an elevator where he meets a Young musician named Bob newworth liking what he has to say Dylan ditches his date and follows newworth to a gig unfortunately Dylan can't go anywhere

without being recognized getting into a fight while new worth comes to his defense it isn't long until the two become friends with new worth serving as Dylan's Road manager while that last part is true the buildup is fictionalized Dylan and newworth didn't meet by chance in a Manhattan elevator but rather at the Indian neck Folk Festival in Connecticut the brawl is also fabricated although it is more believable than the punch thrown in hearts of fire it done good boss hey number three Dylan's complicated relationship with Sylvie Russo Roto right I say no one wants to

hear what a kid wrote last month well I like your songs L Fanning plays artist Susie Roto who's called Sylvie Russo here despite the name change the film is mostly faithful to Rotolo's Rocky romance with Dylan came here with nothing but a guitar you never talk about your family your past people make up their past they remember what they want Roto was Dylan's Muse especially as his music turned more political the relationship faced one too many hurdles to endure Dylan's affair with Joan bayas being one of them Rolo also went to Europe without Dylan for

an extended time contributing to the rift the film leaves out a few other dark periods such as a pregnancy that ended in an agreed upon abortion the movies version of their breakup is also dramatized as Roto didn't accompany Dylan to the 1965 Newport Folk Festival by 1964 though the relationship ended in heartbreak inspiring Dylan to write ballad in plain D once l a girl her skin it was bronze number two Dylan and B's spat over blowing in the wind wrong so this is what I don't know Joan Bas was instrumental in shaking Dylan's complete unknown

status covering his songs and often performing with him on stage while the film recreates some of their collaborations one scene hits a false note if anyone who's going to hold your attention on stage you have to kind of be a freak during a performance in 1964 Dylan brings their duet to a halt refusing to sing blown in the wind not committing to any set list Dylan walks off stage while by sing solo it's true that Dylan grew disenchanted with blown in the wind around this time at one point calling it quote just another song they

just want me singing blowing in the wind for the rest of my goddamn life his relationship with Bas was also going through a rough patch setting the stage for their breakup in 1965 yet this particular argument never transpired in front of a live audience before we continue be sure to subscribe to our Channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasion videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one the

crowd called Dylan Judi right I hear Bob is playing electric not on our stage he isn't when Dylan swapped out his acoustic guitar for an electric sound it was seen as the ultimate betrayal among folk music purists you have to remember at the time there was a very clear distinction I mean fol music offered authenticity and purity and pop music was vulgar and and really was left was shut out of the room and by marrying those two together this was many saw this as a betrayal that it was Dylan selling out during a 1966 World

Tour performance in Manchester England an audience member angrily referred to Dylan as Judas Dylan responded quote I don't believe you you're a liar before instructing his band to play louder a complete unknown accurately recreates this incident albeit with a significant change instead of Manchester's free trade Hall Dylan is called Judas at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival that said electric Dylan was starting to infuriate his fan base around this time sparking booze from the Newport audience from a storytelling perspective it makes sense to combine these events so no need to call the filmmakers Judas well this

is going to piss some people off what did you think of a complete unknown let us know in the comments did you enjoy this video check out these other clips from watch Mojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos