The album begins Fahey's interest in soundscapes and sound effects, using backward tapes and dissonance.
Richie Unterberger, in his
Allmusic review, stated: "Edited together from several pieces, the 19-minute "The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party" anticipated elements of psychedelia with its nervy improvisations and odd guitar tunings." although he had kind things to say of some of the other songs. Unterberger also states "Despite Fahey's curmudgeonly dismissal of the record several decades later, it's an important, if uneven, effort that ultimately endures as one of the highlights of his discography." Fahey,
ED Denson and
Barry Hansen assembled the record shortly after the release of
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death from both new music and parts that had been on tape for years.
Alan Wilson, who appears on this recording and was a member of the band
Canned Heat, had once assisted Fahey in his
UCLA master's thesis on the music of
Charley Patton. Fahey and Wilson duet on "Sail Away Ladies"; this version of the tune displays an eastern influence, with Wilson playing the South Indian
veena. This track became a lifelong favourite of the British DJ
John Peel, whose championing of Fahey's music on his influential
BBC radio shows helped the guitarist gain an audience outside the United States. Peel included "Sail Away Ladies" in his 1999
Peelenium, a personal selection from 100 years of recorded music. ==Reception==