City Lights (Dr. John album)
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| City Lights | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Length | 38:29 | |||
| Label | Horizon (SP-732) | |||
| Producer | Tommy LiPuma, Hugh McCracken | |||
| Dr. John chronology | ||||
| ||||
City Lights is an album by Dr. John, his first for Horizon Records.[1] It was released in 1978.[2][3]
Neon Park provided the album artwork.[citation needed]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| DownBeat |  [6] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [2] |
The Globe and Mail wrote that Dr. John's "honky-tonk piano sounds especially fine and strange against the lushness of strings - the title song virtually drips with sweet decadence."[8] DownBeat concluded, "In all, City Lights casts a fresh beam on the multi-talented Rebennack. His music is an amalgamation of American culture, all of it rendered with a style, wit and grace distinctly his own."[6]
Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album "established Dr. John as a skilled songwriter."[9] Phoenix New Times deemed "He's a Hero" " the ultimate hipster-in-the-night song."[10] Writing after the musician's death, Billboard thought that the title track, "combining stride piano, strings and an evocative lyric, displays a subtlety Dr. John wouldn’t fully commit to again."[11]
