The album was produced by Eddie Kramer, who had previously worked with Joe Cocker and Jimi Hendrix, and included Simon's first Top 10 hit, "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be", which earned her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1972.

[1] A somber ballad centered on a woman pondering marriage with a sense of both inevitability and entrapment; the song was written by Simon and frequent collaborator Jacob Brackman.

[1] The album features material written by Simon, with additional writing by Brackman, Kramer, and Fred Gardner, as well as covers of songs by Mark Klingman and Buzzy Linhart.

"[5] Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice, was less impressed; "I suppose it makes sense not only for the privileged to inflict their sensibilities on us, but for many of us to dig it.

"[6] In more recent years, William Ruhlmann, writing for AllMusic, rated the album 31⁄2-stars-out-of-5, and listed the tracks "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" and "Dan, My Fling" as stand-outs.