[7][8][nb 1] Among the frequent compliments he paid the American singer in interviews,[11] Harrison often praised Robinson as a songwriter,[12][13] noting in his 1980 autobiography, I Me Mine: "one tends to forget how many good tunes he has written.

[14] In the lyrics to the song's first verse, Harrison acknowledges the tendency to forget to show appreciation for something:[16] Throughout my lifetimes I'd hesitate I'd feel some joy, but before I've shown my thanks It became too late And now all the way I want to find the time To stop to say I want to thank you Lord for giving us each new day.I've always liked Smokey Robinson and he's probably one of the best songwriters around ...

[15][nb 2] In the song's final verse, Harrison compliments what he would describe in a 1987 Musician interview as Robinson's "effortless butterfly of a voice",[7] as well as his willingness to experiment as an artist:[17] Singing it so sweetly like no one else can do Always trying something new And I thank you Lord for giving us Pure Smokey.Harrison biographer Simon Leng comments that musically the song reflects "many years' flipping of Atlantic and Stax classics" by Harrison, as well as his work over 1969–70 with two soul/R&B artists signed to the Beatles' Apple record label, Billy Preston and Doris Troy.

[28] The musicians accompanying him on the track were jazz saxophonist and arranger Tom Scott, Richard Tee on Fender Rhodes piano, bassist Willie Weeks and drummer Alvin Taylor.

[31] Together with the Taylor–Weeks rhythm section,[32] Scott's role as assistant producer on Thirty Three & 1/3 gave the album a sound that was more authentic in the American soul genre compared with Harrison's self-produced Extra Texture.

[39][40] Thirty Three & 1/3 was released in November 1976, with "Pure Smokey" appearing as track 3 on side two of the original LP format,[41] sequenced between Harrison's remake of the Cole Porter standard "True Love" and "Crackerbox Palace".

[48][49] In a review for Melody Maker, Ray Coleman listed the song among "plenty of high-spots" on the album and commented: "Interesting to observe from this how flexible George's vocal styles have now become: he handles ['Pure Smokey'] with a black soul feeling, showing commendable understanding, but without resorting to embarrassing copying techniques.

"[50] Although he admired Harrison's guitar work throughout the album, the NME's Bob Woffinden derided its lyrics and opined that a second Robinson tribute in as many years "serves to delineate even more his inability to find fresh material and themes".

[51] Writing in The Beatles Forever in 1977, Nicholas Schaffner included "Pure Smokey" as an example of Thirty Three & 1/3's standing as "the most varied and tuneful collection of Harrison melodies to date" and described the song as "similar to Extra Texture's 'Ooh Baby' but better".

[54] Leng praises Harrison's guitar solos for their understated, melodic approach – in which he detects "a nod to Eric Clapton, but with added Carl Perkins twang" – and concludes: "A fact often overlooked is that none of the other Beatles came close to offering convincing soul moods, whereas they were a fundamental part of the Dark Horse's musical vocabulary.