[1][2]: 316 [3]: 30–31  Guest musicians on the album include Lowell George, Bobby Keys, Jay Ungar, and Tony Levin as well as family and friends such as eldest sister Jane McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle's husband Dane Lanken, and the siblings' old friend Chaim Tannenbaum.

In 2011, the British composer and television presenter Howard Goodall chose it as one of his "six best albums", stating "For me the two outstanding cuts are the utterly beautiful 'Heart Like a Wheel' and the French-Canadian pseudo-folk song 'Complainte pour Ste-Catherine'... the pair's gentle harmonies are unmistakable and unforgettable.

That song subsequently has been covered by several other artists, including Billy Bragg, Katie Moore, The Corrs, and June Tabor.

The Bewlay Brothers, by Nona Marie and The Choir on their 2011 eponymous album, and by Karine Polwart and Dave Milligan on their 2021 record Still As Your Sleeping.

[11] The song "Complainte pour Ste-Catherine" (by Anna McGarrigle and Philippe Tatartcheff) was covered by the British pop singer Kirsty MacColl in 1989.