If Being Inspired By Miles Davis Is Cool, Consider The Jesus Lizard

Last night I crafted a mind-melting noise-rock playlist that I wish I could easily share with you, but I can't, or won't, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

It's basically got a bunch of great stuff on it by bands such as Shellac, Unwound, Shipping News, Future of the Left, Sonic Youth, Unsane, Brainiac, the Pixies, Mclusky, Girls Against Boys, and several others.

Of course, no noise-rock playlist would be complete without The Jesus Lizard, and while I opted to go with "Mouth Breather" for my mix, I was reminded last night of the unlikely inspiration behind the song "Then Comes Dudley" off of their 1991 album Goat.

Apparently, and I'm not sure if Duane Denison and the boys ever honed up to it or not, that song shares many similarities with a Miles Davis number called "Great Expectations," which was first recorded as early as 1969 and appears on the 1974 album Big Fun.

Here is the short version from the The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions.

Miles Davis - "Great Expectations"

And here, for comparison, is "Then Comes Dudley" as it appears on Goat (apparently not the remastered version, though:)

The Jesus Lizard - "Then Comes Dudley"

Pretty similar, huh? Once again, I'm not certain if I had read about this in an article about the The Jesus Lizard, so it might be that the similarities are completely intentional and that "Then Comes Dudley" was openly inspired by Miles Davis. I'm certainly not trying to point out an instance of misappropriation here.

It's just an unusual curiosity worth sharing, that's all...