While the band continued until 1995, they were primarily a live concert act following the release of Cats Under the Stars and never recorded another studio effort.

Grateful Dead members Keith and Donna Godchaux, who were at the time also part of the Garcia Band, contributed to the album.

The album was the first to be recorded at the Grateful Dead's Club Front in San Rafael, a warehouse space that had been acquired for band rehearsals and then converted to a studio.

Garcia explained "[Ron] Tutt liked the drum sound in the room and we hadn't really thought about it before, so we whipped the place into a recording studio.

Many Deadheads and critics alike feel as if Cats Under the Stars is Garcia's best non-Dead effort..."[8] Side one Side two The album was reissued in the All Good Things: Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions box set with the following bonus tracks: Tracks 9 & 11-13 are from a rehearsal session in November 1976.