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Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)

"Mighty Quinn"
MightyQuinn45.jpg
Single by Manfred Mann
from the album Mighty Garvey! (UK)
The Mighty Quinn (US)
B-side "By Request – Edwin Garvey"
Released 12 January 1968 (1968-01-12)
Format 7" 45 RPM
Genre Rock
Length 2:51
Label Fontana Tf 897
Writer(s) Bob Dylan
Producer(s) Mike Hurst
Manfred Mann singles chronology
"So Long, Dad"
(1967)
"Mighty Quinn"
(1968)
"Theme from 'Up The Junction'"
(1968)
"The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)"
Song by Bob Dylan from the album Self Portrait
Released 8 June 1970 (1970-06-08)
Recorded 31 August 1969, Isle of Wight Festival
Length 02:48
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Bob Dylan
Producer(s) Bob Johnston
Self Portrait track listing
The Boxer
(16)
"The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)"
(17)
Take Me as I Am (Or Let Me Go)
(18)

"Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan and first recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. The song was recorded in December 1967 and first released in January 1968 as the "Mighty Quinn" by the British band Manfred Mann and became a great success. It has been recorded by a number of performers, often under the "Mighty Quinn" title.

The subject of the song is the arrival of the mighty Quinn (an Eskimo), who changes despair into joy and chaos into rest, and attracts attention from the animals. Dylan is widely believed to have derived the title character from actor Anthony Quinn's role as an Eskimo in the 1960 movie The Savage Innocents. Dylan has also been quoted as saying that the song was nothing more than a "simple nursery rhyme." A 2004 Chicago Tribune article also claimed that the song was named after Gordon Quinn, co-founder of Kartemquin Films, who had given Dylan and Howard Alk uncredited editing assistance on Eat the Document.

Dylan recorded the song in 1967 during the Basement Tapes sessions, but did not release a version for another three years. Meanwhile, the song was picked up and recorded in December 1967 by the British band Manfred Mann, who released it in early 1968 under the title "Mighty Quinn". The Manfred Mann version reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart for the week of 14 February 1968 and remained there the following week. It also charted on the American Billboard chart, peaking at #10, and reached #4 in Cash Box.

A later incarnation of Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, included a dramatically different live version of the song on their 1978 album Watch. The single edit omitted the prog middle part (previously released as a standalone instrumental under the title "As Above So Below" on 1975's Nightingales & Bombers) and included a few new guitar solos. Afterwards, the song has appeared on numerous live recordings, the middle part often including long solos and/or snippets of other songs. "As Above So Below" has been replaced with "Oh Well" and in recent years, the band often quoted "Smoke on the Water" as well before returning to the main hook. Therefore, "Mighty Quinn" repeatedly goes on for over ten minutes live.


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