Adult Contemporary singles chart, where it reached number seventeen (Heart's highest-charting AC hit until "These Dreams" in 1986).

Assumed to increase the single's playtime to a more standard 3 minutes, the intro to its A-side "Crazy On You" was grafted onto the beginning of the song.

In 2011, Nancy Wilson recorded a reworked version of the song with American classical guitarist Sharon Isbin for the latter's album Guitar Passions.

[3] Cash Box said "the tune is soft and melodic; a banjo plays quickly on backup" and "Ann & Nancy Wilson turn out some surefire harmonies.

"[4] Billboard described "Dreamboat Annie" as "a pretty and poetic song filled with dreamlike sea lyric imagery and backed by near classical folk guitar and banjo runs.