The Purple Onion was a celebrated comedy and music club in the North Beach area of San Francisco that also launched the careers of The Kingston Trio and Phyllis Diller, besides the Smothers Brothers.

Recorded at the Purple Onion, San Francisco, and is Mercury catalog number MG 20611 (monaural), and SR 60611 (stereo).

According to Dick Smothers (quoted in the duo's biography, Dangerously Funny), the performances recorded at the Purple Onion for the album were good but the tapes were marred by technical issues.

As a result, the only part of the Purple Onion recording that made it onto the released album was the introduction.

The brothers were grateful to the Purple Onion for giving them their first break, so the entire album was credited as having been recorded there.