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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment

How Bob Dylan went from being unknown to unforgettable

Bob Dylan at a press conference in London in 1965.
Bob Dylan at a press conference in London in 1965. Photograph: Stanley Bielecki/ASP/Getty

In his engrossing piece about A Complete Unknown (‘It’s full of things that didn’t happen – but it feels right!’ Inside the making of Bob Dylan film A Complete Unknown. 27 December), Alexis Petridis mentioned that the film is very good at capturing the shock and awe of audiences encountering songs like Blowin’ in the Wind as freshly written material.

I well remember experiencing just that feeling in the early 1960s watching a TV broadcast of Peter, Paul and Mary singing the song. I had never before heard such powerful lyrics and took careful note when Mary said that it had been written by an aspiring young folk singer called Bob Dylan.

The next day, I went into a record shop in Glasgow and asked if they stocked anything by Bob Dillon – they had me spell his name, as they had never heard of him.
Mike Pender
Cardiff

• Having endured a plethora of smartphones spoiling enjoyment of the Rijksmuseum’s Vermeer exhibition, I support Carole Gray’s call for phone-free sessions in art galleries (Letters, 20 December).

I recently attended a phone-free Bob Dylan concert in Edinburgh that was greatly enhanced by the absence of phones, and the locked-pouch technology worked perfectly, causing little delay on entry or exit. As ever, Bob ain’t no false prophet.
John Rushton
Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire

• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

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