The Skin I'm In (album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
The Baltimore Sun	[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[13]
Ottawa Citizen	[7]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[9]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[10]

The Independent called the album "a rollicking affair" and "a good-time record."^[14] The Ottawa Citizen wrote that it "catches old Elmo in an even mellower mood than normal."^[7] The Patriot Ledger noted that "Bishop's vocals are not his strongpoint, always raspy and sometimes strained, but with that deliciously wicked humor always lurking just below the surface."^[5]

The Baltimore Sun opined that "the highlight may be 'Long Shadows', a slow blues that's backlit by Norton Buffalo's subtle, mournful harmonica, a hint of what lingers when the party candles burn low."^[12] The Age determined that, "more than a sort of blues Harpo Marx, he's an intelligent, humorous observer, delivering convincingly in a wry voice that reflects his Tulsa, Oklahoma, origins."^[15] The Record stated that "Bishop keeps things appropriately light with festive horn arrangements, heartfelt singing, and his signature one-note guitar solos."^[16]

AllMusic considered the album "perhaps the most cohesive album he's made to date, revealing an artist coming to grips with his muse, his age and his art, all at once."^[11]