[2] He then left for the West Coast and found bassist Jim Fielder who believed in the songs that Kooper wrote.

[2] He then threw a benefit for himself and invited several musicians he previously worked with, such as Judy Collins, Simon & Garfunkel, David Blue, Eric Andersen and Richie Havens.

It failed to generate any Top 40 singles, although "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "I Can't Quit Her" found some play on progressive rock radio.

The song "My Days Are Numbered" was included as Side Two track one on the album and introduced BST to a much wider audience.

Writing for AllMusic, critic William Ruhlman wrote of the album:"Al Kooper's finest work, an album on which he moves the folk-blues-rock amalgamation of the Blues Project into even wider pastures, taking in classical and jazz elements (including strings and horns), all without losing the pop essence that makes the hybrid work.

Pepper era of the late '60s, a time when you could borrow styles from Greenwich Village contemporary folk to San Francisco acid rock and mix them into what seemed to have the potential to become a new American musical form...

The performances became more and more animated over time, including celebrity guests such as Ted Koppel, Nathan Lane, and others draping a cape over a kneeling Shaffer and attempting to lead him off stage before he stormed back to continue the song (a tribute to a similar gimmick employed by James Brown).