[1] AllMusic's Thom Jurek wrote: "McClinton doesn't try to reinvent the wheel on Prick of the Litter, but he doesn't have to; his voice, despite his age, was made for songs like these, while the charts and band performances are equally inspired.

[3] Steve Horowitz of PopMatters wrote: "the dozen new tracks here could have been created at any time in McClinton's 50 years of recording.

[4] Doug Freeman of The Austin Chronicle felt like "Delbert McClinton tears up the blues circuit, but the easy saturation of Prick of the Litter serves up its own satisfaction".

[5] Uncut reviewer praised the album with: "somewhere, Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer and Mose Allison are tapping their feet and smiling".

In a mixed review, Blurt magazine critic stated: "the songs vacillate between solid, classic McClinton and ho-hum and you can't help but miss the more raucous, wilder Delbert".