Allmusic rated the album with 1½ stars stating "Blood, Chet & Tears is legendary for being one of the most shameful releases in his catalog, but the reality of the album isn't quite as bad as the legend behind it... Blood, Chet & Tears finds Baker trying to sound like somebody else and that's the worst thing about the album. It literally sounds like Baker is hiding his true musical personality rather than expanding upon that personality. And when you come right down to it, that really is selling out as opposed to what George Benson and others were doing during this same period".[2]