Upon its release, the album reached number 77 on the "Billboard" Top LPs chart, but failed to reach the charts in the United Kingdom. Two attendant singles were released during 1968, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", which achieved modest success, and "I Am a Pilgrim", which failed to chart. The album received mostly positive reviews in the music press, but the band's shift away from psychedelic music alienated much of its pop audience. Despite being the least commercially successful Byrds' album to date upon its initial release, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" is today considered to be a seminal and highly influential country rock album.