Bar Room Preacher

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All Music Guide to the Blues	[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[12]
Houston Chronicle	[7]
Lincoln Journal Star	[13]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide	[6]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[9]
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide	[14]
Valley Advocate	[15]

The Chicago Tribune called the album "good, ol' fashioned, head hangin' Chicago blues".^[16] The Whig-Standard said that "Johnson's voice, his chief strength, has the timbre of a young B.B. King's, although it's more expressive; it's at its best on such slow numbers ... Johnson captures painful sentiments without wimping out".^[17] The Los Angeles Times praised his "stinging guitar and distinctive, high-pitched vocals".^[18]

The Winnipeg Sun called the album "a mix of classic gutbucket blues and multi-influenced originals".^[19] The Houston Post appreciated that Johnson was one of the few blues musicians who excelled at both singing and playing guitar, with one skill not outshining the other.^[8] The Reno Gazette-Journal stated that Johnson "has a clean, warm tone and he swings and soars across the bar lines like a jazz horn player".^[20]