Martin recorded very little in 1969, only devoting two three-hour sessions in the spring to recording this album.[1]I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am peaked at 90 on the Billboard 200.[2]
William Ruhlmann on Allmusic.com gave the album two and a half stars out of five. He described the style as "Hollywood-style country-pop" and likened the title track to Roger Miller's "King of the Road," a previous recording of Martin's.[1] The use of similar songs to his previous album, Gentle on My Mind, led Ruhlmann to accuse producer Jimmy Bowen of "just trying to repeat previous successes" with the result "a bit tired...No wonder Martin was taking more interest in his golf game than in his recording activities".[1]
