Back to the Country (Johnny Shines album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide	[13]
Orlando Sentinel	[12]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[14]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[15]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide	[16]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues	[17]

The Houston Chronicle called the album a "down-home selection of gut-bucket Delta blues that makes no apologies for its likeness to Robert Johnson... Shines is in great form, and the music is at once ageless and fresh, too authentic to have to be reinvented."^[18] The Washington Post noted that "Pryor's pungent harmonica is another asset, as is John Nicholas's deft guitar work, and except for some mediocre songs, the album's lulls are far and few between."^[11] The Pittsburgh Press deemed Back to the Country "raw and powerful."^[19] The Orlando Sentinel determined that the pair's "flawed jubilance is uplifting."^[12] The Philadelphia Inquirer opined that Shines's "flat, grim delivery on 'Trouble in Mind' gives lie to the lyric's optimism."^[15]

AllMusic said that "Shines and Pryor have a nice rapport which shines through despite difficulties—but overall, it's hard not to view this as a nostalgia exercise."^[8]