"In anticipation of the album's CD reissue by Columbia Records in 2003, "PopMatters" critic Andy Hermann reviewed the release and called it "essential listening for any fan of early '70s funk and R&B".Hermann highlighted the contributions of session musicians from the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, who helped Withers develop "a unique style of bluesy funk that was the perfect soundtrack to the emotional drama [that] leaked out from around the corners of Withers' laid-back West Virginia drawl."