After leaving his former label Flying Dutchman Records, Gil Scott-Heron signed with the New York City jazz-based Strata-East label in early 1973, accompanied by jazz keyboardist and songwriter Brian Jackson, with whom he had worked with on his previous studio albums, Pieces of a Man (1971) and Free Will (1972).[1] While some sources allege this may have been over financial or creative differences,[2] Scott-Heron maintains the switch was due to producer Bob Thiele's unwillingness to give Jackson co-billing.[3] By the time of their move to Strata-East, Scott-Heron and Jackson had achieved underground notice among R&B and soul music listeners, particularly for the political and social nature of their music's themes, as well as Scott-Heron's emphasis on African-American culture and social plight in his compositions.[4] Their musical fusion of jazz, blues, soul and spoken word styles helped them earn some notice among less-mainstream black music listeners at the time.[5