JBFC Mixtapes, Vol. 28: A Complete Unknown

by JBFC Marketing Manager Paige Grand Pré

JBFC Mixtapes is an initiative from the Burns to highlight the music—from soundtracks to scores—that makes the cinematic experience so special. Vol. 28: A Complete Unknown comes to us from JBFC Marketing Manager Paige Grand Pré, who writes:

“Raised by my father on a steady diet of classic rock and folk, I inherited not only his smile, but also his first love: music. He taught me to appreciate everything from the delicate gravitas of holding a vinyl record in your hand and flipping it over for Side B to the unhinged joy of watching Joe Cocker perform “With a Little Help from My Friends” as captured in Woodstock (1970). He helped me untangle the threads of music history that wound their way from my grandfather’s Hank Williams albums to later folk heroes like Pete Seeger, or one of my dad’s more contemporary favorites, The Band—which I imagine set the stage for a later love of Bob Dylan—and imbued me with a sense of reverence for the activists who took those Americana and folk protest songs to the streets in the 60’s and 70’s to protest the war in Vietnam or support civil rights at home. While this twofold passion for music and protest manifested primarily as an interest in punk culture during my years of teenage rebellion, classic rock and folk have always felt like home.

Over the past year or so, I find myself coming back to the music of the sixties more than ever, nostalgic for an era I never experienced. Perhaps it’s the global political turmoil and sense of chaos that currently pervades the zeitgeist, or perhaps it’s lingering joy left over from last October, when one of my personal heroes—the force of nature known as Joan Baez—joined us at the Burns for a Q&A following a screening of Joan Baez: I Am a Noise. Whatever the case may be, the current social climate seems ripe for the release of James Mangold’s new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown.

Opening Wednesday, December 25 at the Burns, and starring Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, A Complete Unknown follows the triumphant troubadour from the days of his early success in Greenwich Village’s folk scene through to the seismic “Dylan Goes Electric!” controversy at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Advance tickets are on sale now, but in the meantime you can set the mood with JBFC Mixtapes, Vol. 28: A Complete Unknown. A (somewhat) chronological journey through Bob Dylan’s music, mentors, and paramours between the years 1962-66, JBFC Mixtapes, Vol. 28 is a taste of the times loosely built around four sets Dylan played at the Newport Folk Festival: 1963 (“Blowin’ in the Wind” with Joan Baez), 1964 (“With God on Our Side,” again with Joan Baez, and “Mr. Tambourine Man”), and his 1965 acoustic set (“All I Really Want to Do,” “If You Gotta Go, Go Now,” and “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”), which was followed the next day by the now-iconic 1965 “Dylan Goes Electric!” set (“Maggie’s Farm,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”). Fare thee well, and happy listening.”

Stream or save the full mixtape on Spotify to listen offline later, then snag tickets to see A Complete Unknown at the Jacob Burns Film Center!

Want to stay up to date on what’s happening at the JBFC? Make sure to sign up for our ebulletin HERE.