Critical reaction to The Black Album was generally positive: The Desert Sun described it as "a great listen", while USA Today called it "quite a compilation".

A lifelong fan of the Beatles, Hawke compiled The Black Album for his daughter Maya following his divorce from her mother Uma Thurman, and presented it to her on her 13th birthday on 8 July 2011.

Additionally, the song "Real Love"—a Lennon demo reworked and overdubbed by McCartney, Harrison and Starr for the compilation Anthology 2—was included on The Black Album.

Included with the three-disc collection was a set of liner notes in the form of a personalised letter from Hawke to his daughter, explaining his motivation for creating the album.

[11] The Desert Sun described it as "a great listen" and were inspired to create their own shorter version of the album, which featured only 12 tracks consisting of solo material from 1970 to 1971.