In addition to five Parton compositions, the album contained a number of folk and country classics, including work by Woody Guthrie, Mel Tillis and Merle Travis.

The Parton-penned "Poor Folks Town" was originally recorded as a duet with Porter Wagoner on the 1972 album Together Always.

A 1983 reissue on cassette omitted the tracks "Detroit City" and "Dark as a Dungeon", and moved the song "Sing for the Common Man" to the end of Side 2.

1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for 10 consecutive weeks and ended up being certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

William Ruhlmann, who reviewed the album, stated that due to RCA's practice of "shoving poorly organized products onto the market, most of Parton's albums are hard to recommend", but that "[the songs are] enough to put it a notch above most of Parton's RCA catalog.