Though the album has gained more favor over the years, it was received as a disappointment upon its original distribution and failed to chart.

While the album exemplified the group's psychedelic sound, the release also saw their record producers, Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus, conceive extravagant marketing ploys to promote the band as a mainstream act.

Such attempts spawned the commercially unsuccessful Christmas single, "Jingle Bells", a comic book accompanying Electric Comic Book that was meant to entice younger buyers, and outfitted the Blues Magoos in flashy "electric suits", in their live performances.

[3][4] The band emerged as proven songwriters by the time they commenced recording, so the group decided self-producing all but four tracks on Basic Blues Magoos was the most ideal move to achieve independence from Wyld and Polhemus.

Additionally, the group's recent tour as a supporting act for The Who exposed them to British mod and freakbeat acts, which manifested itself with the cover version of The Move's song, "I Can Hear the Grass Grow", and the original tune, "Sybil Green (Of the in Between)".