Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
Bob Dylan
1967

Yeah, you weren't expecting this one.  I'd wager to say that less than 5 of you have even *heard* this song.  That's how we roll on the Jason 100 - just bettering the lives of music fans everywhere.  First of all, let's make sure you have the right version.  This is the *live* version we're talking about (sometimes labeled as the "Isle of Wight, UK August 1969" version), not the studio version in 1967 which is just not the same.  That trash would not even be featured on the Jason 1000, let alone the Jason 100.

But this version?  Oh baby, this song is gold.  This jangly little number is like the first-ever jam band song.  As far as Bob Dylan songs go, I could've gone in any other number of directions - Like a Rolling Stone, of course.  Tangled Up in Blue.  Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.  A Hard Rain's A-Gonna-Fall.  Classics, all.  But none of them are as fun as Quinn the Eskimo.  This is early Dylan at his peak for 2 minutes and 46 seconds, before he fell off into a career of harmonica and mumbling like a senile patient with gerbils in his mouth in an asylum ward (sorry, Dylan fans, that was a bit harsh, but the truth must be told).  But his early stuff is great.  How I came across this one years ago was actually completely random - when I was at the SEC, the two heads of the office were huge music guys.  One had Phish and Dead posters all over the wall; the other kept a ton of CDs in the office (I still maintain that the reason I got the job was that I asked the latter during my interview about music, launching a discussion for 20 of our 30 minutes about various bands of mutual interest).  Anyway, after I had established myself there, the head of the office handed me a "Dylan for Dummies" CD that had all of the hits but also some other relatively unknown tracks.  This was the best of the bunch, and I still love it today.

And the best part of including this song on the J100?  I just discovered in putting together this writeup that Noel Gallagher covered this song!  And yeah, of course it's amazing.  Everybody is winning today.

Other Songs Considered:
All of the aforementioned Dylan songs were contenders.