[2] The album has a more polished sound than those Joplin recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band, due to the expertise of producer Paul A. Rothchild and new backing musicians.

The Full Tilt Boogie Band were the musicians who accompanied her on the Festival Express, a concert tour of Canada by train, in the summer of 1970.

The band also appeared twice on The Dick Cavett Show and played many American cities before and after Festival Express, though no recordings of those concerts were officially released.

[3] The album cover, photographed by Barry Feinstein in Los Angeles,[4][5] shows Joplin reclining on her Victorian era loveseat with a drink in her hand.

[13] In 1993 Columbia reissued the album on 24kt gold CD as part of their MasterSound series, this edition was remastered by Vic Anesini using the Super Bit Mapping process.

[15] A two-disc Legacy Edition was released on June 14, 2005, with six bonus tracks including a birthday message to John Lennon of "Happy Trails," and a reunion of the Full Tilt Boogie Band in an instrumental tribute to Joplin.

Recordings of Joplin and Paul Rothchild talking between takes give the listener insight into their creative musical process.