in his only review of a king album, "the best of freddie king" (1975) by shelter records, christgau wrote in "" (1981) that the 1971–73 recordings are "a bunch of leon russell and don nix boogies, [king's] voice blurred, his guitar all fake and roll." he added that, while the guitarist had recorded some "acute r&b" singles early in his career, he later "coast[ed] for years". however, in a review of king's 1974 album "burglar" for allmusic, joe viglione called it "entertaining and concise" and believed the album "stands as a solid representation of an important musician which is as enjoyable as it is historic".