The album was written and recorded while John Martyn was in the process of divorcing his wife Beverley, and the songs strongly reflect the emotional upheaval that he was experiencing at the time.

Producer Martin Levan said of the delay that "the messages I was getting back was that Chris [Blackwell] felt it was too sad and he didn't want to put it out.

When released, Rolling Stone described the album as "a very strong outing for John Martyn, placing him in a class with such intelligent eclectics as Joan Armatrading and Joni Mitchell.

"[5] Grace and Danger was released in a deluxe edition in February 2007, which featured the original album remastered, with a second CD of demos and offcuts.

[7] In the book he stated “Martyn shared the break-up of his marriage to Beverly with us, tearing open his heart and exposing all his emotions on record."