The October Bob Dylan Book of the Month is Dylan Goes Electric: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald. This is the book that is one of the reference points for the movie under development, entitled A Complete Unknown that stars Timothee Chalamet as Dylan, Benedict Cumberbatch as Pete Seeger, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, and Elle Fanning as a character that seems to be based on Suze Rotolo.  Maybe no release date because of the writers strike. Timothee Chalamet has indicated he will sing the the Dylan songs included in the movie.

Elijah Wald has written a number of books, mostly with musical themes and often focusing on the roots of the blues: Jelly Roll Blues, River of Song: A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi River, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘N’ Roll, Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Foundation of the Blues, Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerillas, The Dozens: A History of Rap’s Mama, The Blues: A Very Short Introduction, Riding With Strangers: A Hitchhiker’s Journey, Josh White: Society Blues, and Global Minstrels.

Elijah co-authored Dave Van Ronk’s hilarious memoir, Mayor of Macdougal Street, which served as the basis of the 2014 Coen brother’s film Inside Llewyn Davis (the book was completed and published in 2005 after Van Ronk’s death in 2002). Bob Dylan is a hovering presence in the movie, check it out! As noted on the Suze Rotolo page, there is now quite a set of memoirs, including Dylan’s own, about the early 60s in Greenwich Village and the emergence of Mr. Dylan.

For interviews of Wald that focus on Bob Dylan Goes Electric, see (for many others, just Google Wald Dylan Goes Electric Interviews):
NPR
Best Classic Bands
Gas Light Records
Peter Stone Archives

Talk by Elijah Walsh:
American Folk Lore Center

Aha! I noticed a couple of errors while reading the book—Elizabeth Cotten’s name is spelled Cotten, not Cotton!—and was about to write Elijah Wald when I found an errata page by Wald himself, noting this and other corrections. BUT I did write him about another error: On page 152, Wald wrote that "Suze Rotolo recalled that she and Dylan were watching Kennedy's motorcade on television when the killing happened". However, in Rotolo's memoir A Freewheelin' Time, she recounts that they were watching on live TV when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot--not two days earlier when Kennedy was shot. I doubt the motorcade was on live TV in New York (in fact, after Kennedy was shot, the stations broke into regular programming with the news) and there was nothing remarkable or especially newsworthy about Kennedy's trip to Dallas that would have caused Dylan and Rotolo to watch, even if it was live on TV. Of course, later, we all saw the recorded footage of his motorcade, but it wasn't live. And we were all glued to the TV for days afterword and so many of us saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald 2 days after Kennedy was shot. That's when Suze and Bob were watching. I emailed Elijah Wald and got this reply: Dear Peter, Sorry for the delay. You're right, of course, and I've added this to my errata page. And many, many thanks for getting the word out about the book, and linking to my interviews and music -- I really appreciate that and feel terrible that I didn't respond more promptly. All the best, Elijah

SETLISTS, DYLAN GOES ELECTRIC, & THE JUDAS SHOW . One thing that is fun for me is that there are cross links between the books we’ve read--. In Elijah Wald’s book Dylan Goes Electric, our October Book Selection, there is an intriguing reference to setlist advice that Peter Yarrow gave Bob Dylan—which links to our February 2024 book, The Politics & Power of Bob Dylan’s Live Performances by Erin Calahan and Court Carney. On p. 284 of Wald’s book we find this report on his interview of Peter Yarrow: “Peter Yarrow is convinced Dylan could have played the same songs with the same instrumentation [That is, ELECTRIC] and been ACCEPTED [my emphasis], saying he advised him to ease into the electric set: [Here Peter Yarrow quotes what he said to Dylan] ‘Sing a couple of songs acoustically, then say, “I’ve been working on a new way and its very exciting and I want to share it with you”’.

We don’t know if Peter was the direct cause (I personally think, given the times and the vibe, his advice went in one of Dylan's ears and out the other), but starting with the concerts after the night at Newport in 1965, he did do the 50-50 splits: an acoustic set, intermission, and the electric set. From Forest Hills and onward into the 1966 tour, including the Judas show. However, Dylan definitely did not use Peter Yarrow’s softer words, saying simply with dramatic flare and possibly with a touch of exasperation: “it used to go like that, now it goes like this”. And guess what, Yarrow’s scheme, in fact, did not work. As Erin & Court remind us, the shock of the electric set was like the band firing machine guns into the night in the movie "I'm Not There".

Peter White, October 2023, with edits and additions November 2023

THE FAMOUS GUITAR DYLAN PLAYED
If you don’t know the story of the rediscovery of the guitar Bob Dylan played when he went electric at Newport in 1965, you are in for a treat! I hope this link works (you may have to be on the membership rolls at your local Public Television Station):
https://www.pbs.org/video/history-detectives-guitar-went-electric/

To read about the return of the guitar, visit (thanks to Dylan.fm for the link)
https://newportfolk.org/folktales/dylans-guitar?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

WHO BOOED BOB DYLAN, WHY AND WHAT’S THE REASON FOR?
Part of the Book Club discussion on October 15th was about the many reasons folks were upset by Bob Dylan’s electric set at Newport on Sunday, July 25th, 1965. Click HERE for a DRAFT summary.

Keeping an eye on what we know about the movie-in-production A Complete Uknown, to start filming in Februrary 2024, in terms of potential misrepresentations of Dylan going electric, based on what we’ve learned from Wald’s book. Click HERE for some conjectures.

I also emailed Elijah Wald about A Complete Uknown and was excited to get this reply:
Elijah,
One more question: One reason we read your book as part of the Bob Dylan Book Club is the movie-in-production A Complete Unknown. I think your analysis of Dylan at Newport is terrific and am worried that the movie folks will either simplify or rewrite history (Dylan is a producer, I believe, so maybe that helps). I think they listed your book as a reference (or stronger role?), can you say anything about whether your share this fear?
Peter
Dear Peter,
They optioned the book as the basis for the film, and have consistently mentioned it in their publicity releases, but have not contacted me otherwise. Honestly, I tend to assume that any movie will simplify and somewhat rewrite the history, especially with Dylan involved, since it will presumably need to match his memory, or at least come close enough to satisfy him. (That is not a slur on Dylan; everybody remembers the story differently, and it makes sense that this will be closer to his version.)
All the best,
Elijah

Elijah Wald is a musician, as well. See YouTube, but here is an example of his bluesy finger-picking style:
Tell Old Bill
He does a Dylan song:
Love Minus Zero/ No Limit