The Brightest Smile in Town

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The Brightest Smile in Town
The Brightest Smile in Town.jpg
Studio album by
Dr. John
Released1983
Label Clean Cuts [1]
Producer Ed Levine, Jack Heyrman
Dr. John chronology
Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Vol. 1
(1982)		The Brightest Smile in Town
(1983)		Such a Night! Live in London
(1984)

The Brightest Smile in Town is an album by the American musician Dr. John, released in 1983. [2] [3] It was his second solo piano album. [4] [5] It was reissued in 2006, along with Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Vol. 1 plus bonus tracks. [6] In 2024, Sundazed complemented its reissues of Dr. John's early 1980s solo piano recordings by releasing Frankie & Johnny, an album of solo piano recordings from August 1981 and November 1982.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Production

The album was coproduced by Ed Levine. [7] Half of its songs are instrumentals. [8] "Waiting for a Train" is a cover of the Jimmie Rodgers song. [9] "Touro Infirmary", about a dead friend, was included on the album's reissue. [10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Robert Christgau B− [11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]

The Philadelphia Inquirer deemed the album "an uneven but charming record that peaks with his rowdy performances of 'Marie La Veau' and ... 'Average Kind of Guy'." [13] The Globe and Mail praised the "unassuming, easy-rolling vein of New Orleans' piano playing." [15] The Philadelphia Daily News called it "a joyous romp through various aspects of traditional and modern music from the Crescent City." [16]

Robert Christgau noted that "too often on his second unaccompanied mostly-instrumental album he's as pleasant and boring as any other session man doing his thing." [11] Goldmine determined that the album is "filled with glissandos, arpeggios and quiet, almost eerie, passages." [17]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Saddled the Cow" 
2."Boxcar Boogie" 
3."The Brightest Smile in Town" 
4."Waiting for a Train" 
5."Monkey Puzzle" 
6."Your Average Kind of Guy" 
7."Pretty Libby" 
8."Marie la Veau" 
9."Come Rain or Come Shine" 
10."Suite Home New Orleans" 

References

  1. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 350.
  2. ↑ Bambarger, Bradley (May 21, 2006). "Dr. John takes it easy". Spotlight. The Star-Ledger. p. 12.
  3. ↑ Sweeting, Adam (June 7, 2019). "Dr John Obituary". Music. The Guardian. p. 8.
  4. ↑ Milkowski, Bill (June 6, 2019). "Dr. John Dies at 77". DownBeat. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  5. ↑ McDermott, Tom (December 21, 2002). "Solo Practice – Twenty years ago, Dr. John single-handedly recorded one of the best albums of his career". Food & Drink. Gambit.
  6. ↑ Shuster, Fred (March 5, 2006). "Recordings". Zest. Houston Chronicle. Los Angeles Daily News. p. 4.
  7. ↑ Levine, Ed (2019). Serious Eater: A Food Lover's Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption. Penguin. p. 37.
  8. 1 2 "The Brightest Smile in Town Review by William Ruhlmann". AllMusic. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Building a Library". Stereophile. April 1998. p. 249.
  10. ↑ Rebennack, Mac (1995). Under a Hoodoo Moon: The Life of the Night Tripper. Macmillan. pp. 242–243.
  11. 1 2 "Dr. John". Robert Christgau. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  12. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 112.
  13. 1 2 Tucker, Ken (January 15, 1984). "Dr. John, The Brightest Smile in Town". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. I5.
  14. ↑ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 204–205.
  15. ↑ Lacey, Liam (January 26, 1984). "The Brightest Smile in Town Dr. John". The Globe and Mail. p. E3.
  16. ↑ Marsh, Dave (March 24, 1984). "Dr. John: The Brightest Smile in Town". Features. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 18.
  17. ↑ "Dr. John". Goldmine. Vol. 37, no. 5. Spring 2011. pp. 43–47.
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