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Buzzy Levine of Lark Street Music

·48 min·4 clips

Buzzy Levine caught a major historical error when the movie requested a banjo that didn't exist in Bob Dylan's era.

This episode features host Jason Verlinde interviewing Buzzy Levine, the owner of Lark Street Music in New Jersey, who supplied vintage instruments for the Bob Dylan biopic *A Complete Unknown*. Levine details the process of renting and preparing over 20 guitars, banjos, and other period-accurate instruments for the film's production. The conversation covers specific instruments like a 1943 Martin 0-45, a 1907 Washburn, and replica Gibson Nick Lucas and J-50 models that were artificially aged for the movie. Levine explains that the production's prop masters contacted him initially because he owned the specific 0-45 model needed to replicate Joan Baez's guitar. He lists instruments rented, including a Purley Washburn, Epiphone Triumph, Martin D-28, and D-18 models. The team aged new Gibson Nick Lucas replicas using canned air to crackle the finish, discovering Gibson's modern lacquer is designed to resist checking. Two J-50 replicas were used as Dylan's main guitars, with one developing cracks and a lifting bridge during filming, requiring repairs. A surprising moment involves Levine learning from a *New Yorker* article that actor Ed Norton joked about actress Monica Barbaro keeping the 0-45 as a prop, contradicting assurances the guitar would be guarded meticulously. He shares an anecdote about almost meeting Bob Dylan while giving a ride to Dylan's technician, Cesar Diaz, but respecting a "Do Not Disturb" sign on Dylan's hotel room door. Levine, who attended the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, offers his firsthand perspective that the infamous booing was not as widespread as often portrayed and may have been partly a reaction to Dylan's short set. The discussion reveals that film productions receive tax incentives for sourcing props from New Jersey, which is why they used his store. Levine mentions repairing a Vega long-neck banjo for a Pete Seeger scene, which required installing an old, dirty head and a fifth-string spike. He notes that only one inexpensive 1920s American guitar was damaged during production, and the studio compensated him for it. The tone is conversational and nostalgic, blending behind-the-scenes film trivia with personal stories from the folk music scene. This episode is ideal for guitar enthusiasts, vintage instrument collectors, and fans of Bob Dylan or movie production details. Listeners with no interest in the specifics of guitar models or film prop sourcing might find the niche discussion less engaging.

As heard by us

A guitar shop's role in outfitting a Bob Dylan movie, told through shop-floor detail and rental logistics.

This episode follows a practical, slightly niche question: what happens when a guitar shop ends up outfitting a Bob Dylan movie? Buzzy Levine of Lark Street Music in New Jersey says he rented out all the instruments used in A Complete Unknown, and the story tracks those guitars…

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