In 1966 Lloyd founded his quartet with the young pianist Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee (who was later replaced by Ron McClure) and Jack DeJohnette, and signed to the Atlantic label.

[2] By the end of the '60s Lloyd's quartet became especially well known in the so-called "hippie movement", sharing bills with Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds or Jefferson Airplane.

Matt Leskovic of All About Jazz sees retrospectively that "[d]rugs, depression, frustration with the recording industry, and increased interest in his developing spirituality inspired periods of reclusion.

"[5] In the liner notes of the reissue Tom Callaghan writes: "Like that other great recluse of the time, Miles Davis, Lloyd embarked on a long and solitary journey, but one of spiritual discovery and enlightenment.

While musically his style developed more psychedelic and folk rock elements, his interest in spirituality like Transcendental Meditation and the Islam influenced some of the lyrical topics.

"Moon Man was a recording born out of this period, a time of great uncertainty and darkness in the heart of America, when the hitherto unassailable ramparts of US capitalism and lifestyle had been shaken by the radical questioning of the Summer of Love and the horrors of the Vietnam War," as Tom Callaghan explains in the liner notes.

[11] The track "I Don't Care What You Tell Me" has been recorded by boogie band Canned Heat in 1971 on their Historical Figures and Ancient Heads with Lloyd on flute.