Quinn the Eskimo (Mighty Quinn) form of creative work song
"Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan, first recorded by him in 1967 during the Basement Tapes sessions. The song's first release was in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" in a version by the British band Manfred Mann, which 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 Quinn (an Eskimo), who changes despair into joy and chaos into rest, and attracts attention from 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 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.Manfred Mann and Dylan versions
Dylan first 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 as a single in the US on 8 January 1968 under the title "Mighty Quinn". A UK single followed within a week. The Manfred Mann version reached No. 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 Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 10, and reached No. 4 in Cash Box.  Cash Box called it a "funky-rock track" with "a trace of calypso [to] add zest to a tremendous effort."A later group to feature the eponymous keyboardist, 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 their 1975 album Nightingales & Bombers) and included a few new guitar solos. Since that time 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. Thus, their live performances of "Mighty Quinn" often go on for over ten minutes.
A demo of 14 of the 1967 Basement Tapes recordings, including the first of two takes of "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)", was produced in 1968, but was not intended for release. Recordings taken from the demos began appearing on bootlegs, starting with Great White Wonder, a double-album bootleg that came out in July 1969. The first official release of the song was in 1970 on Dylan's Self Portrait album, a live recording from 1969's Isle of Wight Festival. The live version (titled "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)") was also selected in 1971 for the second compilation of Dylan's career, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II.When Columbia finally released The Basement Tapes in 1975, the song was not among the double album's 24 songs (although an Inuk was represented on the album cover, alongside Dylan, The Band, and several other people meant to represent certain characters from some of Dylan's songs). However, ten years later in 1985, the second of the two 1967 takes appeared on the five-LP Biograph set (this time titled "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)"). This version was used again on The Essential Bob Dylan, a compilation released in 2000. The first of the two 1967 takes was not officially released until 2014, on The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.
The Manfred Mann version is noted for Klaus Voormann's use of a distinctive flute part. This was replaced in the Earth Band version with Manfred playing it on an organ.
Kris Kristofferson covered the song in 2012 for Chimes of Freedom, in honor of 50 years of Amnesty International. It has also been covered by Swiss rock groups Gotthard and Krokus.
Jorn Lande covered this song as a hard rock rendition on his 2019 album Heavy Rock Radio II: Executing the Classics.
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