Inside Bob Dylan and Joan Baez Relationship

In 1961, Bob Dylan visited folk musician Joan Baez and she saw a “scruffy little pale-faced dirty man.” As soon as she heard him sing, Baez knew his talent would influence much in the music world and in her life as well.

In the biopic A Complete Unknown, the biopic examines the professional as well as the personal parts of their relationship. Now showing in theaters, Timotheé Chalamet plays Bob Dylan and Monica Barbaro is Suze Rotolo. On Thursday, the actors were each nominated for an Oscar which represents two of the film’s eight total nominations.

What started as a duo act on stage ended up as a relationship off stage. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez relationship did not last very long, but its effects on their careers and on fans are still felt today.

This Best Picture nominee, drawn from Elijah Wald’s book dylan Goes Electric!, looks at Dylan’s progression from 1961 as he confronted his fans with a rock concert at Newport in 1965. Better known as the San Francisco folksinger, Baez’s music evolved and her relationship with him changed as well during this era.

Baez was already a star before meeting Dylan

The film was made in 1968, a year in which Baez’s rising career in folk music had become very evident. It was at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival that, after performing beautiful duets with Bob Gibson, Baez received a record deal at the age of 18. Times, Teachings and Temptations, I’m Every Woman and Rapture were all certified gold upon release.

Baez gave a concert in 1960, one year after she made her name at the Newport Music Festival.

Baez was travelling in 1961 when a friend told her about a “wonderful” young singer she should hear at Gerde’s Folk City in New York’s Greenwich Village. Therefore, she and her boyfriend got to know Dylan, whose real name was Robert Zimmerman and his song called “Song to Woody.”

I completely fell apart inside, she said to Rolling Stone, because it was such a beautiful song. I could not say anything at that time, because I was next to my very jealous boyfriend who kept looking at me ready to get rid of Dylan mentally. Then Bob said, ‘Uhhh, hi’ in that unique way and I was just so impressed with his genius and his manner.

After this, Baez asked Dylan to support her on a few tour dates and sing duets with her. Even with all the media attention, Baez was still the bigger star until her protege started gaining celebrity power too.

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez Relationship

Although Dylan and Baez immediately felt something, they mainly kept their friendship to music in the beginning. At the time, Bob had a girlfriend which was a factor.

Suzie Rotolo and the singer met for the first time in 1961 at a folk music event in New York City. “She was by far the most sensually appealing person I’d ever seen,” Dylan told reporters. Her skin was fair and her hair was golden and she was of Italian descent. As soon as we started chatting, my heart started going faster and faster.

After Sylvie Russo (previously Rotolo) became known, she was said to inspire Bob Dylan and was linked to songs like “One Too Many Mornings” and “Tomorrow Is a Long Time.” She was featured on the cover of his 1963 album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan too.

Suze Rotolo is shown with Bob Dylan on the front cover of his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

With Dylan gaining more success, Rotolo started to grow upset with being portrayed as just part of his image, as she wrote, “a string” on his guitar. After she went to Italy for six months to study art, their connection soon started to weaken. The New York Times reports that in August 1963 Rotolo left her apartment with Dylan, only to discover later that she was pregnant and then had an illegal abortion.

When that happened, Dylan and Baez were already an item and were leading the folk music scene.

Baez called their relationship “totally demoralizing”

Once his 1963 album was released, Dylan shot to fame across the country as he kept performing alongside Baez. As well as their musical talents, Dylan and Baez spoke out together about many social matters. Examples of this include their appearance at the March on Washington in August 1963 which gave Dylan much more attention.

By 1965, Dylan decided to make music in popular genres like pop and rock, instead of just writing protest anthems. Becoming known began to put pressure on their relationship. “His fam became so big and so fast, so I got lost in everything that went on,” she said.

Dylan’s tour of the UK in 1965 brought about the separation and the real heartbreak for Baez appeared much later that year. In November, Dylan had a private wedding to Sara Lownds who was carrying his first child.

As time went on, in 2023, Baez shared that the experience with Steinem was “totally demoralizing,” though she thought many other elements played a role in the end. Our time together was in our early 20s. What we did was foolish and you shouldn’t keep blaming us about it.”

Their romance inspired multiple songs

Bob Dylan sings and plays piano during a 1965 recording.

Despite their breakup, lyrics in both their music made it clear that Dylan and Baez still had unfinished feelings.

Baez included a song called “To Bobby” on her 1972 LP which she had dedicated to those fighting the Vietnam War. Looking back in his 2004 memoir, Dylan remembered that the song persuaded him to revisit political songs and “take on a lead role, encourage others, like a leader in a crusade.”

Three years after that, Baez turned reflective with “Diamonds and Rust,” looking right at their connection. Baez’s voice appealed to Dylan, especially because he asked her to be part of his Rolling Thunder Revue tour.

Baez thinks despite Dylan’s secrecy about his work, his inspiration for those songs, “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965) and “Visions of Johanna” (1966), may include her. The hint comes from the line: “And Madonna, she still has not shown up.” A writer who covered the 1959 Newport Folk Festival for Far Out Magazine likened Baez to the “barefoot Madonna” because of how she wasn’t wearing shoes during the show and the religious themes in her songs.

Baez and Dylan didn’t keep in touch

Since turning 83, Dylan has achieved great success as a singer in many genres. The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, says he has released over 50 albums and penned more than 6,000 songs. In addition, the 11-time Grammy winner has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama (2012), as well as the Nobel Prize for Literature (2016).

Although not as expansive, Baez has had a noticeable influence on music. Her performing career ended in 2019 and before then, she released over 30 albums which was recognized in 2017 when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

When they were not performing, both Dylan and Harrison went through marriages, ended in divorce for Dylan. Dylan has six children and Baez only has one.

See A Complete Unknown in Theaters Now

On their relationship, Baez explained to People in 2023 that they never truly reconciled. However, she said that when she painted a portrait of the singer as a young man, she found true forgiveness. When I played his music, tears just started falling. When I completed my painting, there were no more negative feelings inside me. It has stayed that way,” Baez added.

Baez has been spoken about with great kindness by Dylan during a MusiCares Gala speech in 2015. You can see how tough-minded Joan Baez is in her music. What she decides is law and nobody can make her do anything she doesn’t want to do, he said. I studied many important lessons from her. Everything she did for me can never be paid back by what I do for her.

This time, a brand new audience will discover the special relationship between Stevie and Elton by watching the live-action film.

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