S03.08 Jokerman w/Michael Gray

‘A Complete Unknown’ starts and ends with Dylan & Woody Guthrie in Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris Plains New Jersey. In this episode we learn more about Dylan’s time there with Guthrie from two people who were directly involved, Woody’s daughter Nora Guthrie and his friend Jahanara Romney (then known as Bonnie Beecher). Beecher’s name will be familiar to Dylan fans because The Minnesota Hotel Tape was made in her Apartment in by Tony Glover in December 1961 - so she was in fact a friend of Bob’s from the time period just before he came to New York. She is also, not incidentally, often referred to as the original Girl From The North Country (but in reality is likely just one of the characters in the composite), and the subject of an early Dylan original called “Bonnie, why'd you cut my hair.” which an be found on those Minnesota Hotel Tapes. These interviews were done about six years ago by the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital Oral History Project by Stephanie Kipp. A second interview with Jahanara is here too - telling much the same story, but 25 years earlier. That version is from an interview originally done by Markus Wittman. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the seventh in an ongoing series offering a guided tour of Bob Dylan's work to new Dylan fans and anyone interested in better understanding his music. Companion posts and bonus materials are published on our blog. Links Guthrie at Greystone - Excellent Documentary on YouTube Nora Guthrie - Video Interview Jaharana Romney - Video Interview Greystone Oral History - Website MORE DYLAN REVISITED - On Substack Sign Up for the Dylan.FM Substack SEVEN DAYS - Our Free Weekly Bob Dylan Email Newsletter. SIGN UP Dylan.FM is a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, host Colm Larkin takes us into The Gaslight to talk about Dylan’s work and recordings there. These are visits that took place in the very early years of Dylan arriving in New York. We'll hear about two famous Dylan shows there, one from September 1961 and another from 1962 that has later been officially released. These shows took place in the very early years of Dylan's time in New York, right in the heart of the first section of the movie 'A Complete Unknown'. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the sixth in an ongoing series offering a guided tour of Bob Dylan's work to new Dylan fans and anyone interested in better understanding his music. Companion posts and bonus materials are published on our blog. Links MORE DYLAN REVISITED - On Substack Sign Up for the Dylan.FM Substack: https://thefm.substack.com/ SEVEN DAYS - Our Free Weekly Bob Dylan Email Newsletter. SIGN UP Dylan.FM is a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

Our Not Completely Unknown series continues, with Episode 2 from A Bob Dylan Primer, this time focusing on Dylan's life and work between the release of his debut album and the release of Another Side of Bob Dylan just two years later. Host Michael Hacker tells the story of this pivotal period when Dylan the songwriter came to the forefront. This all within the period of the A Complete Unknown Movie, during the time of Dylan’s first two visits to Newport but a year before the ’65 appearance when he went electric. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the fifth in an ongoing series offering a guided tour of Bob Dylan's work to new Dylan fans and anyone interested in better understanding his music. Companion posts and bonus materials are published on our blog. Links Sign Up for the Dylan.FM Substack: https://thefm.substack.com/ SEVEN DAYS - Our Free Weekly Bob Dylan Email Newsletter. SIGN UP Dylan.FM is a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

Today we hear from Elijah Wald, who wrote “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night that Split the Sixties” the book on which the movie 'A Complete Unknown' is based. As the title suggests, the book looks at the events of this period based on Seeger and his role in the established folk Music, Dylan’s arrival and ascension, and the dramatic events that took place at Newport ’in 1965. That structure is what Mangold and Jay Cocks used to create their script - which is informed by but is not entirely faithful to many of the details as told in the books itself. But the book is more of the true story than the movie is, which is why a lot of us are picking it up to read or re-read having enjoyed the movie version. Stu Levitan interviewed Elijah Wald when the book was new, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Newsport ’65, for his show ‘Books & Beats with Stu Levitan, which was originally broadcast on 92.1 FM - The Mic in Madison Wisconsin. He kindly gave permission to reshare that 2015 interview. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the fourth in an ongoing series offering a guided tour of Bob Dylan's work to new Dylan fans and anyone interested in better understanding his music. Companion posts and bonus materials are published on our blog. Links Get The Book: Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties (Amazon) 2024 Interview: Elijah Wald - Rock and The Beat Generation The Story of The Movie: Turning Music Rights Into A Bob Dylan Biopic - The Town Podcast SEVEN DAYS - Our Free Weekly Bob Dylan Email Newsletter. SIGN UP Dylan.FM is a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

The Bob Dylan portrayed in A Complete Unknown finds those incredible songs pouring out of him—a characterization we’ve often heard about Dylan. While the blistering pace at which they emerged is astonishing, it’s important to understand the influences, borrowing, and creative remaking that played a huge role in this period of his life. Far from diminishing his achievements, understanding these factors only deepens the sense of awe. One of the most compelling aspects of Song & Dance Man is how it illustrates Dylan’s process of learning from—and transforming—the folk traditions, rock music, literature, The Bible, and the blues that shaped him. These aren’t really revealed as the building blocks of his genius; they are more like nutrients that sustained and enriched him, or tools that he sometimes used, sometimes reshaped, and sometimes ignored to suit his unique vision. The result is utterly fascinating and endlessly instructive. In a happy coincidence, A Complete Unknown focuses on folk music and so does the very first Chapter of Song & Dance Man. It’s an excellent place to start exploring Dylan’s influences and abilities beyond those you can hear by simply listening. We published an excerpt from this chapter today, and in this podcast we talk with Micheal about the way folk music taught and fed Dylan and what he then did with those lessons and that fuel. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the third in an ongoing series offering a guided tour of Bob Dylan's work to new Dylan fans and anyone interested in better understanding his music. Companion posts and bonus materials are published on our blog. Links Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) - Amazon FREE Excerpt from Chapter 1 Michael Gray Website SEVEN DAYS - Our Free Weekly Bob Dylan Email Newsletter. SIGN UP Dylan.FM is a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

Just 10 months after he arrived in New York City, Bob Dylan found himself at Columbia Records recording his first record. This episode tells the story of what was then considered a rather unspectacular debut. This is the first episode of Dylan Revisited, a new podcast by Colm Larkin that grew out of his Twitter/Bluesky thread posts. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the second in an ongoing series offering a guided tour of Bob Dylan's work to new Dylan fans and anyone interested in better understanding his music. Companion posts and bonus materials are published on our blog. Dylan.FM is a proud member of The FM Podcast Network MORE DYLAN REVISITED - On Substack SEVEN DAYS - Our Free Weekly Bob Dylan Email Newsletter. SIGN UP QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

Before television, a boy was born in springtime Minnesota. 25 years later he was the most beloved, and most reviled – pop star on the planet. A Bob Dylan Primer is a series that tells the story of the work and life of Bob Dylan. Over the course of 16 episodes it covers the time period from Dylan’s youth in Minnesota and early days in New York City up to the release of Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind in 1997. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the first in an ongoing series offering a guided tour of Bob Dylan's work to new Dylan fans and anyone interested in better understanding his music. Companion posts and bonus materials are published on our blog. Links: Greenwich Village Folk Riot – 1961 Greenwich Village During the Beat-Nik Era Folkies Kingston Trio – Tom Dooley – 1958 Bob Dylan – Remember Me – East Orange, NJ – 1961 Dylan – First recorded concert – May 6, 1961 Bob Dylan on Oscar Brand Radio Show – November 1961 We're a proud member of The FM Podcast Network SEVEN DAYS - Our Free Weekly Bob Dylan Email Newsletter. SIGN UP QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

We're kicking off a new series on Dylan.FM called “Not Completely Unknown” focused on helping new Dylan fans learn more about the guy they met in the film, or the musician that they've never taken the time to get to know well. This will be an ongoing series of podcasts, blog posts, and social media chirps (primarily on Bluesky @dylan.thefm.club). Three sources will frame the series: A Bob Dylan Primer: This is a 16 part series that walks through Bob Dylan’s career one phase at a time. It was created and produced by Michael Hacker, who has revised and updated the series for this presentation. One episode of this series will be released each week. Dylan Revisited: What began as a series of Tweet Threads which exquisitely condensed and presented key albums and events in Dylan’s life, later became a series of blog posts. and is now a podcast - all by writer Colm Larkin. A new episode and associated blog post will appear every week or two. Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan: The first and many still believe best serious critical analysis of Dylan’s work comes from Michael Gray in his Song & Dance Man books. New excerpts from the book and recut versions of our chapter-by-chapter talks with Michael will be released throughout this series. To get the posts and bonus material that accompany this series: Sign Up for Our Substack : The free level will include most of the series; there will be bonus material for paid supporters. ——————————————————————— We're a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

In 1983 Bob Dylan recorded Blind Willie McTell, but it remained unreleased until The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3, and became one of Dylan's most revered songs. It finally appeared in concert in 1997 where it remained an occasional highlight for a long long time. On this episode we dive into this well loved Dylan song with Michael Gray, who researched and wrote extensively about it in his book Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan. This is the twelfth episode in our walk through The 50th Anniversary Series release - we're well into Volume 2, with this discussion covering material in Chapter 6. It's deep dive into a song Gray knows well, and a man he wrote a whole book about. As usually, we cover a bunch here but the book goes way deeper. ** There is a video version of this episode at TheFM.Club website for Premium Members.** LINKS Michael Gray Website (includes autographed first editions of his Blind Willie McTell book) Song & Dance Man Vol.2 Book Website Song & Dance Man Vol 1, 2, 3 Book Series Amazon Our Blind Willie McTell: The Song & The Man Playlist Seven Days: Our Weekly Bob Dylan Newsletter EXTENDED EDITIONS To get Extended and Bonus Episodes of our shows: Subscribe to FM+ : Click the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts or sign up here. (One subscription covers all our network podcasts for one low price !) Join FM Premium: Get an FM+ Subscription plus video interviews, blog posts, a weekly bonus email and more. ——————————————————————— We're a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].

To listen to the Extended and Bonus Episodes of our shows you can either: Subscribe to FM+ : Click the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts or sign up here. (One subscription covers all our network podcasts for one low price ! ) Join FM Premium: Get an FM+ Subscription plus video interviews, blog posts, a weekly bonus email and more.   VIDEO AVAILABLE • • This interview is available on video for FM Premium Members. LINKS Michael Gray Website Song & Dance Man Book Website Song & Dance Man Books Amazon Seven Days Weekly Dylan Email SignUp VIDEO AVAILABLE This interview is available on video for FM Premium Members. ——————————————————————— We're a proud member of The FM Podcast Network QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Drop us a note at [email protected].