The album was never fully completed, and the extant version was released without the band's permission or involvement by U.S. label April Records in 1978, making it effectively a bootleg.

[2] As such, most of its tracks were re-recorded with Sonia Pottinger for release on the Harder Than the Rest album shortly afterwards.

Neither the backing group (christened the Sons of Jah by Culture's lead singer Joseph Hill[3]) nor the producers of Africa Stand Alone had appeared on record before.

Perhaps for this reason, the versions here of the tracks that also appear on Harder Than the Rest are renowned for being rawer and less disciplined.

[5] The import of copies of Africa Stand Alone from the U.S. at roughly the same time as Harder Than the Rest was released had the ultimate effect of stimulating interest in the latter, and for a while each record boosted the other's sales.