The concept for Juke Box Music was originally discussed by Sahm and the album's producer, George Rains, as they lived in San Francisco in the 1960s.

[1] Sahm then moved to Canada,[2] where his collaboration release with Amos Garrett and Gene Taylor, The Return of the Formerly Brothers, earned them the Juno Award for Best Roots and Traditional Album.

[4] Sahm started to plan his debut release with the label under the name Triplets for a Dying World, as a reference to the type of beat that the songs featured.

[12] Sahm started a tour with the Antone's Texas Rhythm and Blues Revue, Angela Strehli, Flaco Jiménez and the West Side Horns of San Antonio.

[4] The Austin American-Statesman declared that "Sahm just rares back and rips through the material, totally unselfconscious and invariably on target with every bent-nose solo and soulful vocal infection".

"[18] In its review for the version of the album distributed in Canada by A&M Records the Victoria newspaper Times Colonist considered Sahm's vocals "rich and soulful".