Warning: This article contains some spoilers for A Complete Unknown.A Complete Unknown primarily focuses on the early stages of Bob Dylan’s career, leading up to his decision to use electric instruments in 1965. However, the acclaimed movie also depicts Dylan’s interactions with other real musicians of the 1960s. The James Mangold film follows the musician’s entrance into the world of folk music and how he developed his style, but it also pays special attention to his romances with Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), as well as with his professional relationships with Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook).
Timothée Chalamet leads the cast of A Complete Unknown as Bob Dylan, which has earned the star much praise, yet the supporting performances are equally noteworthy. While Johnny Cash is certainly not the main character in A Complete Unknown, the film does highlight the friendship that Dylan and Cash had throughout their careers and Cash’s influence on Dylan’s decision to follow his plan for the electric show. A Complete Unknown‘s ending is ambiguous as to what happened to Johnny Cash after the events of the film, but like Bob Dylan, the musician had a long and successful career.
Johnny Cash’s Music Career After 1965 & A Complete Unknown
Cash Continued Recording And Performing
Cash was already quite famous by the time of the events of A Complete Unknown, with many of his most well-known songs, such as “I Walk the Line”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Cry, Cry, Cry”, and more, having been released in the 1950s. However, his fame continued throughout the 1960s and beyond. Over the course of his career, Cash released 130 albums, making him one of the most prolific artists of all time. In 1965 alone, Cash released Orange Blossom Special and Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West, the former of which actually includes three Bob Dylan covers.
Despite his previous success, many of the music awards that Cash earned also came after 1965. From 1968 to 2018, 15 years after his death, Cash won 21 Grammy Awards. Cash was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. While recording his own music, Cash also became a member of the country group the Highwaymen during the 1980s and 1990s and appeared as himself in many films and TV shows, proving that his success did come with hard work.
Through his music and other forms of activism, Cash touched on issues such as prison reform, the Vietnam War, wealth inequality, and more, leading to him being known as the “Man in Black.”
In addition to his music career, Cash was also an outspoken activist. In 1964, Cash recorded the album Bitter Tears, which focuses on the mistreatment of Indigenous people in North America by the U.S. government. While the album struggled to receive airtime on the radio, Cash continued making songs with political messages throughout his career. Through his music and other forms of activism, Cash touched on issues such as prison reform, the Vietnam War, wealth inequality, and more, leading to him being known as the “Man in Black.”
Johnny Cash Married June Carter In 1968
Cash & Carter Had First Met In 1955
Beyond the strides that Cash made in his career following the 1965 ending of A Complete Unknown, he also married June Carter in 1968. June Carter, as a member of the Carter Family, was already a country and folk music star in her own right, and the two toured together before becoming romantically involved. During the time that A Complete Unknown covers, Cash would still have been married to his first wife, Vivian Liberto. However, Liberto filed for divorce due to Cash’s infidelity with Carter in 1966, leading to the pair’s marriage several years later.
James Mangold’s 2005 Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line, focuses on the relationship between Cash, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and Carter, played by Reese Witherspoon. Along with their growing relationship, the film dedicates attention to the ups and downs in Cash’s career and his personal struggles. The movie also includes a performance of “It Ain’t Me Babe” that is eerily similar to A Complete Unknown‘s, reaffirming Cash’s connection to Dylan.
Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan’s Relationship After A Complete Unknown
Cash & Dylan Remained Friends & Musical Partners
A Complete Unknown shows Johnny Cash encouraging Bob Dylan to perform with electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, which leads to the crowd booing him. Dylan must not have been too shaken by the crowd’s disapproval due to Cash’s words of support for his artistic vision. While it is not fully explored in the film, the two had exchanged letters prior to the events of A Complete Unknown, and upon meeting in person, their friendship grew. The camaraderie and support ended up lasting a lifetime.
Johnny Cash features prominently on Bob Dylan’s compilation album The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin’ Thru, 1967-1969, which was released in 2019.
While Dylan’s musical decisions were not always supported by his fans and some music critics at the time of their release, Cash fervently supported Dylan throughout his career and urged those who disliked the changes to listen again. In addition to their vocal support of each other, the two also collaborated musically numerous times throughout the years. The most famous duet by Cash and Dylan was “Girl from the North Country,” which the two performed together in 1969 on The Johnny Cash Show.
Johnny Cash Died In 2003, 38 Years After A Complete Unknown
The Friendship Between Cash & Dylan Lasted Throughout Cash’s Life
After a lifetime in the spotlight as a musical star, Cash pᴀssed away in September 2003, just months after the pᴀssing of his wife, June Carter. The year of Cash’s death marked nearly 40 years of friendship between him and Bob Dylan. The two singers were actually so close that Dylan was chosen to give a eulogy at Cash’s funeral. Through Dylan’s eulogy, it is clear how highly he regarded the late singer, referring to Cash as the “North Star” (via Rolling Stone). Even if they could not always see each other, Dylan knew Cash would be there for him.
During the years portrayed in A Complete Unknown, the two singers developed a friendship that would extend outward for decades and greatly influence the musical world. In fact, Cash’s support of Dylan’s decision to diversify his music was another point of love that Dylan referred to in his eulogy. While A Complete Unknown is not meant to focus on Johnny Cash, the biopic does a surprisingly great job at highlighting an important friendship that went on to impact them, and the world, more greatly than either of the legendary singers knew at the time.
Source: Rolling Stone
