''City Lights'' is an album by

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

, his first for Horizon Records. It was released in 1978.

Neon Park Neon Park (born Martin Muller, December 28, 1940 – September 1, 1993) was an American artist, comics artist and illustrator, best known for the images that have strongly defined covers for nearly every Little Feat album except for the band's ...

provided the album artwork.

Production

Doc Pomus collaborated with Dr. John on a few of the album's songs.

Critical reception

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' 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." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' wrote that the album "established Dr. John as a skilled songwriter." '' Phoenix New Times'' deemed "He's a Hero" " the ultimate hipster-in-the-night song." Writing after the musician's death, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' thought that the title track, "combining stride piano, strings and an evocative lyric, displays a subtlety Dr. John wouldn’t fully commit to again."

Track listing

All songs written by Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) except where noted

Side One

# "Dance the Night Away With You" (Rebennack, Doc Pomus) – 4:06 # "Street Side" – 6:01 # "Wild Honey" (Rebennack, Bobby Charles) – 4:10 # "Rain" – 4:48

Side Two

# "Snake Eyes" – 6:44 # "Fire of Love" (Rebennack,

Alvin Robinson Alvin Leavon Robinson (born July 16, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently fighting as a lightweight for the Bellator Fighting Championships. He is a former Ring of Fire lightweight champion. He holds a professional re ...

) – 3:58 # "Sonata (instrumental)/He's a Hero" (Pomus, Rebennack) – 5:20 # "City Lights" (Pomus, Rebennack) – 3:22

Personnel

Musicians * Dr. John – piano, vocals,

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

and

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

on "Street Side", Fender Rhodes on "Rain" * Hugh McCracken – acoustic & electric guitars,

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

on "Fire of Love", harmonica on "Street Side" *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmony, ...

– acoustic & electric guitars *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper' ...

– bass guitar * Steve Gadd – drums * Richard Tee – Fender Rhodes,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, clavinet, synthesizer, piano * Arthur Jenkins – percussion * Charlie Miller –

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

Neil Larsen Neil Larsen (born August 7, 1948) is an American jazz keyboardist, musical arranger and composer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Sarasota, Florida before relocating to New York and then, in 1977, Los Angeles. Early life Larsen was ...

– Hammond organ on "Street Side" and "Fire of Love" * George Young – tenor saxophone * David Sanborn – alto saxophone *

Ronnie Cuber Ronald Edward Cuber (December 25, 1941 – October 7, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. He also played in Latin, pop, rock, and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he played tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet ...

– baritone saxophone * Barry Rogers – trombone *

Ronnie Barron Ronnie Barron (born Ronald Raymond Barrosse, October 9, 1943, in Algiers, New Orleans – March 20, 1997) was an American actor, keyboardist, organist, and blue-eyed soul singer during the 1970s. He was known for his work as a session musicia ...

– background vocals * George & Nancy Jones – background vocals * Tamiya Lynn – background vocals *

– background vocals * Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone on "Fire of Love" and "He's a Hero" *

Alvin Batiste Alvin Batiste (November 7, 1932 – May 6, 2007) was an American avant-garde jazz clarinetist born, who was in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He taught at his own jazz institute at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hi ...

– clarinet solo on "He's a Hero" * Buzz Feiten – guitar solo on "Snake Eyes" Technical * Tommy LiPuma –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Hugh McCracken – producer *

Hank Cicalo Hank Cicalo (born June 25, 1932) is an American recording engineer whose career has spanned over fifty years. Among the artists recorded by Cicalo are The Monkees, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, and George Harrison. Early career In 1957, Cical ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Kevin Herron – engineer * Al Schmitt – engineer, mixing * Don Henderson – assistant engineer * David Prentice – assistant engineer * Erick Labson – mastering * Mike Reese – mastering * Christine Martin – production assistant * Cameron Mizell – production coordination * Hollis King –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

* Isabelle Wong – design *

– cover painting Arrangements * Dr. John – horn arrangements, rhythm arrangements * Hugh McCracken – horn arrangements, rhythm arrangements * Claus Ogerman – string arrangements, conductor

References

{{Authority control 1978 albums Dr. John albums Albums produced by Tommy LiPuma Horizon Records albums Albums arranged by Claus Ogerman Albums conducted by Claus Ogerman A&M Records albums Albums with cover art by Neon Park Albums recorded at Capitol Studios