I am 35 and pretend to know a thing or two about music. Since I was a kid I have loved Quinn the Eskimo, not in a homo-erotic way, mind you. I'm referring to The Mighty Quinn, that Bob Dylan song about an eskimo or a drug dealer or whatever the hell he was supposed to be. I remember finding the track on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 2 in my uncle's record collection when I was probably 10 or 12. As I played that much anticipated band I was very disappointed to hear what sounded like a group of drunk individuals wailing to that beloved tune. Where were the whistles? Where was the emphasis on the "t" on "Come on withouttttttttttt"?
I have since added a number of Bob Dylan records to my own collection. Haven't found Quinn. I admitted defeat and put it out of my mind.
Well, I must have heard the song recently because it has been on my mind again. I went to iTunes looking for it. No luck. Then I did a Wikipedia search...
Manfred Mann! After Dylan wrote the song but before he released his own version of it Manfred Mann recorded the single in 1968. This is the one I have been looking for all these years. I know, I could have done a search sooner but it was just one of those things. I got distracted, forgot about it. At any rate I bought the song from iTunes and it is now on the iPod. I am looking forward to getting into Manfred Mann and finding other treasures. I thought they were just "Doo-Wah-Diddy" and "Blinded by the Light," both of which are good songs but they are no Quinn!
