Book · 2015 · Music
Dylan goes electric!
Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties
Why people recommend it
Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald is a cultural history book that examines the pivotal five-year period between 1960 and 1965, culminating in Bob Dylan's controversial performance at the Newport Folk Festival. The book served as the primary source material for the biographical film A Complete Unknown, generating substantial discussion in media circles. On The Book Review, host Gilbert Cruz and director James Mangold discussed the transition from page to screen, with Mangold specifically praising the disciplined historical focus Wald maintained on the crucial years leading up to the Newport fiasco. Mangold noted that this precise temporal framing was instrumental in shaping the psychological depth and narrative structure of the movie. Meanwhile, on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, actor Timothée Chalamet discussed portraying Bob Dylan and highlighted the book as a fantastic retelling of early sixties music history. Chalamet enthusiastically encouraged listeners to read Wald's 2015 work after experiencing the film to fully appreciate the complex artistic and cultural tensions of the era. These podcast conversations collectively illustrate how Wald's meticulous scholarship provided an invaluable blueprint for dramatizing one of the most legendary turning points in modern music history.
Who recommended it
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
- James Mangold Discussed
Gilbert Cruz — 1 mention
“so a complete unknown it's adapted from Elijah wald's 2015 book Dylan goes electric”
James Mangold — 1 mention
“um one of the things wal does in his book that I think was so important is by defining the period of time that Wald was looking at by really focus focusing on this period 5 years let's say between 60 and 65”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“The film's taken from Elijah Wald's Dylan Goes Electric, a book that came out in 2015! It's a fantastic retelling of events from the early sixties that led up to the fiasco at Newport! After you see the movie, read the book!”