The majority of the songs were first recorded by Garcia and Kreutzmann as simple acoustic guitar and drum tracks. Garcia then overdubbed all other parts

This was the first studio album to be released by the Grateful Dead family for over a year, the last being the Dead’s American Beauty. This is possibly why it benefits from some new Garcia / Hunter compositions

Garcia spoke about the LP in a contemporary interview: “I don’t want anyone to think it’s me being serious of anything like that. It’s really me goofing around. I’m not trying to have my own career or anything like that.”

Garcia spoke about this album during an interview with Rolling Stone: “I’m doing it to be completely self-indulgent musically. I’m just going on a trip. I have curiosity to see what I can do, and I’ve a desire to get into sixteen track and go on trips that are too weird for me to want to put anybody else I know through. And also I want to pay for this house.”

It reached 35 in Billboard’s album charts—the peak of Garcia’s solo career

The singles taken from the album did not fare so well. With Sugaree / Eep Hour being the most successful—reaching 94th in the charts in April 1972.
Early European release was as Garcia (The Wheel)