Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash's real-life friendship explained

Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for A Complete Stranger!

Country singer Johnny Cash plays a key role in the Bob Dylan biopic, A complete strangerraising questions about what their friendship was like in real life and how it compared to the film. Bob Dylan is considered one of the best songwriters of all time, making him a popular subject for documentaries and biopics. In 2024, director James Mangold released A complete strangera film that follows the life of Bob Dylan in the early 1960s.

Many folk singers of the time appear in the film, but one character in A complete stranger may surprise viewers – Johnny Cash. At first glance, the singer's inclusion might seem like a promotion for Mangold's 2005 musical biopic Walk the line. However, Cash's appearance fits the narrative of A complete stranger because the singer had a four-decade friendship with Bob Dylan.

Johnny Cash began a pen pal relationship with Bob Dylan in the early 1960s

Johnny Cash became a big fan of Bob Dylan early in his career

As in A Complete Unknown, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan became friends through letters exchanged. Cash wrote about what inspired him to write to Dylan in his memoir Cash: An Autobiography. The country singer became a fan of the folk singer at the beginning of his career. Possibly, he felt compelled to write a letter to Bob Dylan, expressing his admiration for the newcomer's music. He started listening The Free Bob Dylan on a portable record player backstage before and after each show.

Unbeknownst to him, Dylan had been a fan of Cash since hearing “I Walk The Line” in 1955 or 1956, and considered the singer his idol. This was the beginning of their four-decade friendship, during which they supported each other's musical choices. However, they corresponded for some time before meeting in person for the first time. Cash's book explains that they wrote about their music, their social circles, and the people in their genres. They only stopped writing letters when they met in person.

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash probably met before the 1964 Newport Folk Festival

Bob Dylan and John Carter Cash suggest the singers met before Newport

The story of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash meeting for the first time has become something of a myth, with most people thinking they met backstage at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. This is the version that A Complete Unknown chooses to portray on screen . However, the pair probably met before that festival, based on statements from John Carter Cash – son of Johnny Cash – and Bob Dylan.

After Johnny Cash passed away due to diabetes-related complications on September 12, 2003, Bob Dylan was asked to write a eulogy, which Rolling Stone published. During his eulogy, Dylan revealed that the pair met in 1962 or 1963. If the only source were Dylan's statement, there would be good reason to doubt the veracity of the matter. After all, Dylan is considered an unreliable narrator and spent the beginning of his career lying about growing up in the circus.

However, John Carter Cash also stated that Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan met in a different way than in the myth. During a Reddit AMA, the legend's son said his father told the story of the pair meeting for the first time (via Uproxx). They reportedly met in the early 1960s in a hotel room in New York City. At that point, Bob Dylan ran into the bedroom, jumped on the bed and started singing “I Met Johnny Cash” over and over. Considering the festival is in Rhode Island, the pair meeting in New York would indicate they met some time before Newport.

While these accounts question the myth, they do not change the significance of the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, where Johnny Cash passed his guitar to the real-life Bob Dylan. This is a sign of respect in the country genre. Furthermore, as in A complete strangerthe country singer played an electric set, proving that Dylan wasn't the first to take that step. As such, the negative reaction from folk purists at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival had less to do with the electric instruments played at the festival and more to do with the fact that it was Bob Dylan playing electric music.

Johnny Cash publicly defended Bob Dylan's musical choices

Johnny Cash defended Bob Dylan in early 1964

The friendship between Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan was no big secret, with the pair speaking highly of each other on many occasions. However, one of the most significant events solidified their camaraderie. Johnny Cash wrote a letter to the editor of Broadside Magazine, which appeared in issue #41 and ran on March 10, 1964 (via Sing!). The short letter, which reads like a poem, says the following:

HI BROADSIDE: I was hanged, but I didn't choke... Bob Dylan threw the rope. I sat down and listened quickly... The sauce on that brain is thick. He got off to a good start... But the place where he started... Was way ahead, out of sight! At night there is a light. A lamp is burning in all our darkness... But... We must open our eyes to see it... Just as he heard the wind... To hear it.

Near my banks of mental death, Clutching straws and branches, and drowning, Useless I, But crying louder, Came a Troubadour Poet Singing beautiful familiar things. I sang a hundred thousand lyrics, Right as Rain, Sweet as Sleep, Words to move you... And to kill you. Don't talk bad about him, until you hear him, let him start by continuing, he's almost new,

SHUT UP!... AND LET HIM SING!

…..Johnny Cash

Bob Dylan mentioned how much this meant to him in his eulogy for Cash, claiming that he still had a copy of the magazine at the time of his friend's death. Although they left out this moment, they changed the true story of A complete stranger adding a scene at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where Cash tells his friend he wants to hear the songs Dylan wants to play.

This scene reaffirms the message of Johnny Cash's letter, albeit intimately rather than publicly. The country singer understood the value of Bob Dylan's music and lyrics, wanting to hear what his friend had to say, even if it meant a change of style or theme.

Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan collaborated on music a few times

Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan sing together on a bootleg Bob Dylan album

Bob Dylan continued his musical career after A complete strangerreleasing 40 studio albums. With such an extensive portfolio, it's not surprising to learn that Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan have collaborated on music a few times. The best-known example of this is the song “Girl from the North Country”, which they sang as a duet for Nashville skyline album. For a long time, this was the only officially released song where they sang together. The duo has also covered each other's songs several times. However, this is far from the only time they have worked together.

In fact, Bob Dylan wrote the song “Wanted Man,” which Johnny Cash first released on his 1969 live album In Saint Quentin. The duo recorded a demo of the song together, which finally came out under the title “Wanted Man (Take 1)” in 2019. Bob Dylan also appeared on The Johnny Cash Show in 1969, singing these three songs:

• “Girl From the North Country”, duet with Cash

• “I threw everything away”

• “Living the Blues”

In addition to these cases, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan planned to make an album together, so they recorded numerous songs while Dylan worked on Nashville skyline. Unfortunately, they were unable to finish the album, so the song was not released in 1969.

However, Dylan decided to release more than two dozen tracks from his album's recording session. The Pirate Series Vol. 15: Traveling Through, 1967-1969released in November 2019. It's a breath of fresh air to hear these tracks. Instead of sounding polished and overproduced, these songs – none of which appear in A complete strangersoundtrack – feel like two friends playing.