Mighty Quinn

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Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Mighty Quinn
  DE 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 03/01/1968 (19 weeks)
  AT 4th 03/15/1968 (16 weeks)
  CH 2 05.03.1968 (11 weeks)
  UK 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 01/30/1968 (11 weeks)
  US 10 03/02/1968 (11 weeks)

Mighty Quinn is a song by Bob Dylan from 1967. The version released in 1968 by Manfred Mann became a million seller .

History of origin

Manfred Mann's Mighty Quinn

Dylan recorded the song between June and August 1967 during the sessions that later became the album The Basement Tapes . It was created with two variations of the title (on Self Portrait it is called "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)", on bobdylan.com it is called "Quinn the Eskimo"). Dylan did not release the song as the first artist; it was recorded and published by some groups and singers from 1968 onwards. Dylan didn't bring it out on his Self Portrait album until June 8, 1970 .

original

The first band to pick up the song was the pop group Manfred Mann , who had already packed some Bob Dylan compositions into commercial sounds. Mighty Quinn was recorded by the group on November 2, 1967 and released on January 12, 1968 (with By Request-Edwin Garvey as the B-side). This version became a number one hit in many countries, including the UK and Germany , and sold over two million copies worldwide. The song also appeared on the LP Mighty Garvey !, which was released on June 28, 1968. Manfred Mann also played a (live) version with Manfred Mann's Earth Band, which was released in February 1978 on the album Watch .

content

Due to the sometimes confusing text, the song is open to interpretation. On the surface, it is about the arrival of Mighty Quinn, an Eskimo , in a shipyard with ship workers. Quinn could be one of those workers, but he appears to be an extraordinarily tall or "mighty" man. His arrival causes an uproar among his friends and everything turns into chaos. The song is rumored to refer to actor Anthony Quinn . This played in the film The Savage Innocents by Nicholas Ray, presented in May 1960 at the Cannes Film Festival , an Eskimo named Inuk. Dylan leaves the meaning of the text open and gives a kind of children's song as inspiration.

Cover versions

Mighty Quinn has been covered many times, including Ian and Sylvia (1968), Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (1968), 1910 Fruitgum Company (1968), The Ventures (1968), The Hollies (1969), Lulu (1970), Grateful Dead (2005), Dylan fan Wolfgang Niedecken (as Quinn, dä Eskimo, 1995), Gotthard (1996), Johnny Logan (2004), Die Lollies (2004) and Krokus (2017). The title was used for the soundtrack of the film of the same name starring Denzel Washington , which was released on February 16, 1989.

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ officialcharts.de
  2. ↑ AustrianCharts.at .
  3. ↑ Hitparade.ch .
  4. ^ The Official Charts .
  5. ↑ Quinn the Eskimo ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the song database on BobDylan.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bobdylan.com
  6. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 265.
  7. ↑ Songfacts.com: Quinn The Eskimo by Manfred Mann
  8. ↑ IMDb entry on The Savage Innocents
  9. ↑ Dylan: " Quinn, The Eskimo, I don't know. ... I don't know what it was about. I guess it was some kind of a nursery rhyme “; Liner Notes for Dylan's LP Biograph, published November 7, 1985
  10. ↑ Cover info about Mighty Quinn
  11. ↑ IMDb entry on The Mighty Quinn .