Elijah Wald on Newport '65 (with Stu Levitan)

Not Completely Unknown

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Elijah Wald on Newport '65 (with Stu Levitan)

Jan 01, 2025

Transcript

Not Completely Unknown (E04)

A deep dive into the facts and reality of Newport ‘65 and Dylan’s path to it, from a 10 year old interview done by Stu Levitan.

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 suggest, 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.