Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the "San Jose Mercury News" said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. songs might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."