The album's front cover is listed at number 12 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Album Covers.[9] It shows Cooder and his then wife, Susan Titelman, in a Buick convertible at the Warner Bros. film lot in Burbank, California.
Critical reception
Record Collector wrote that the album "reached deep into tradition, unearthing neglected treasures from America’s past and reshaping them for the post-Woodstock generation."[10]