Cathy and I went to see "A Complete Unknown" this afternoon.  The really rather excellent "becoming" Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet - which is well worth seeing if you were in two minds about going.

Growing up, I'd heard bits and pieces of Bob Dylan off and on, but it wasn't until he released Desire in 1976 that I really got into Dylan.  Growing up and listening to music in the UK you didn't tend to hear Dylan on the radio much, and the songs that you did hear were largely things like Blowing in the Wind,  the Byrds cover of Tambourine Man or of course the wonderful Hendrix cover of All Along the Watchtower.  From my teenage musical perspective Dylan hadn't really done much of interest in the early 70's. 

But Desire hooked me in, and from there it was just a short step backwards to Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 and eventually even the early stuff.

It was hard to explain the attraction of Dylan - he couldn't play guitar that well, his mouth organ playing was rudimentary,  and his singing was, well, at best, an acquired taste.  Yet, you put it together with his songwriting and somehow the whole was considerably greater than the parts.  Of course, one of the things that helped the teenage me to get hooked was the fact that Desire was a collaborative effort and featured some stellar musical contributions from others.

So, back to the film.  Yes, I know that they've taken some liberties with history, but all in all it was true to its subject matter and very entertaining.  There's a brilliant line in the film where Joan Baez says "you're a bit of an arsehole Bob", and indeed he is and that comes across really well.