Manfred Mann: Mighty Quinn
[purchase]
This is a great Dylan song and one of the better covers of his tunes. First off, it's a goofy, fun, playful number that Bob wrote after watching the 1960 Nicholas Ray movie, The Savage Innocents. It starred Anthony Quinn as Inuk, a guileless Eskimo and I'm not sure how Bob was able to stay awake to write the lyrics, it's some damn turgid viewing. The lyrics are a pretty close recap of the film, over the years it's been hilarious to read some of the wild interpretations from Dylan's more rabid fans, convinced his word play was full of deep philosophical meaning.
"We met in a publisher's house as Bob Dylan was making some new material available to other artists. We heard about 10 songs and I thought 'This Wheel's On Fire' would be the one to do, but Manfred liked The Mighty Quinn, which was called 'Quinn The Eskimo' then. It was sung in a rambling monotone but Manfred had recognized its potential. He sold me on the idea of doing this song, but I had to make up some of the words as I couldn't make out everything he was saying. It was like learning a song phonetically in a foreign language. I have never had the first idea what the song is about except that it seems to be 'Hey, gang, gather round, something exciting is going to happen 'cause the big man's coming.' As to who the big man is and why he is an Eskimo, I don't know." - Mike D'Abo of Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann's version reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart and also charted on the American Billboard chart, peaking at #10.