Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
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"Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" is a 1967 folk-rock song written and first recorded by Bob Dylan during The Basement Tapes sessions.
Lyrically, the song is a somewhat light-hearted tale with vaguely psychedelic lyrics. The subject of the song is the arrival of the mighty Quinn, who changes despair into joy and chaos into rest, and attracts attention from the animals. The metaphorical lyrics have prompted suggestions that Quinn is God, a drug dealer, or simply a village elder. Dylan himself has said that the title character refers to actor Anthony Quinn's role as an Eskimo in the 1959 movie The Savage Innocents.
Initially unreleased by Dylan, it was picked up and recorded by the British band Manfred Mann, who released their version under the title "Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)." The Manfred Mann version reached #1 in the UK for the week of February 17, 1968, and remained there for the following week. It also charted on the American billboard chart, peaking at #10.
The first time Bob Dylan himself released his own version of the song was when a live version from the Isle of Wight Festival of the song was included on his Self Portrait album in 1970. Although the album as a whole was poorly received, Dylan's version of "Quinn the Eskimo" is often included in Bob Dylan compendiums.
Since "Quinn the Eskimo" was recorded in 1967 during the Basement Tapes Sessions, it was included on several bootlegs of those sessions durring the early 70s, but it was not included on the official album, The Basement Tapes. One of the takes from the 1967 sessions was released on 2000's The Essential Bob Dylan.
A later incarnation of Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, included a dramatically different live version of the song on their 1979 album Angel Station. Gary Puckett & The Union Gap also recorded this song in 1968. A live version by the Grateful Dead was released in 2000 on Dick's Picks, Volume 17, from a 1991 performance in Boston. Another live version by Phish was released in 1999 on Hampton Comes Alive, which was recorded on November 20 & 21, 1998 in Hampton, Virginia.
A much heavier version of the song was recorded by Swiss rockers Gotthard.This version was entitled simply "The Mighty Quinn."
[edit] Trivia
- John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium, a football stadium in Houston, Texas, is sometimes called "The Mighty Quinn".
- Leon Russell, "The Master of Space and Time," also recorded "The Mighty Quinn," LIVE, in 1970.
- In 1989, Denzel Washington starred in a movie called "The Mighty Quinn", about a character named Xavier Quinn who must exonerate his friend Moubee from murder charges. A new version of the song was recorded for the movie's soundtrack, and appears extensively throughout the film. Coincidentally, he also starred in the movie The Hurricane, which featured the song "Hurricane" also by Dylan.
