| The Brightest Smile in Town | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Dr. John |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1983 |
| Label: | Clean Cuts |
| Producer: | Ed Levine, Jack Heyrman |
| Prev Title: | Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Vol. 1 |
| Prev Year: | 1982 |
| Next Title: | Such a Night! Live in London |
| Next Year: | 1984 |
The Brightest Smile in Town is an album by the American musician Dr. John, released in 1983.[1] [2] It was his second solo piano album.[3] [4] It was reissued in 2006, along with Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Vol. 1 plus bonus tracks.[5]
The album was coproduced by Ed Levine.[6] Half of its songs are instrumentals. "Waiting for a Train" is a cover of the Jimmie Rodgers song.[7] "Touro Infirmary", about a dead friend, was included on the album's reissue.[8]
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'." The Globe and Mail praised the "unassuming, easy-rolling vein of New Orleans' piano playing."[9] The Philadelphia Daily News called it "a joyous romp through various aspects of traditional and modern music from the Crescent City."[10]
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." Goldmine determined that the album is "filled with glissandos, arpeggios and quiet, almost eerie, passages."[11]