Paul Simon had encountered Maggie and Terre Roche earlier, and asked them to sing on the song "Was a Sunny Day" on his 1973 album There Goes Rhymin' Simon. Despite further support, the Roches disliked the involvement of Simon's record company, particularly their advice that the sisters "wear hipper clothes." Terre Roche later said:
We were humiliated... We wanted to get out of the whole situation. We had a friend in Hammond, Louisiana, who was running a kung fu school. We gave up our apartment and told the record company, ‘We’re not going to promote the record anymore; we’re going away for a while.’ This was two weeks after the record came out. Maggie wrote the "Hammond Song" about the whole experience.[1]
The album was well received by contemporary critics. John Rockwell of The New York Times called it "... the best pop record of 1979 thus far. In fact, it's so superior that it will be remarkable if another disk comes along to supplant it as best album of the year."[8] Rockwell subsequently picked it as the best album of that year, stating that it was "... also the scariest record, because the Roches probe emotions and even fears that most pop — most art, even — does not approach."[9]Jay Cocks of Time called it "startling, lacerating and amusing".[10]The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said that "Robert Fripp's austere production of this witty, pretty music not only abjures alien instrumentation but also plays up the quirks of the Roches' less-than-commanding voices and acoustic guitars. Thus it underscores their vulnerability and occasional desperation and counteracts their flirtations with the coy and the fey. The result is not a perfect record, but rather one whose imperfections are lovingly mitigated."[7] It was voted #11 for the year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.[11]
Retrospective assessments have also been positive. AllMusic characterized it as a "mischievous and highly original folk blend".[2] Rating the album 10/10 in the Spin Alternative Record Guide, Ann Powers praised Fripp's guitar accompaniment and spare "audio vérité" production but noted his efforts "would be merely a gorgeous surface if not for the songs themselves. Suzzy and Terre each contribute winners, but it's Maggie whose genius dominates."[6]The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave it five stars, calling it an "unprecedented thrill" and a Greenwich Village folk parallel to the New York punk explosion.[5]
