Kin Ping Meh, named after the 16th-century Chinese moral novel „Jin Ping Mei“, was founded in Mannheim in 1969. In their early years, they performed live frequently and following a television appearance, the band won a band competition on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg in November 1970. The first prize was a recording contract, sponsored by the newspaper Bild am Sonntag and the record label Polydor. After releasing two singles on Polydor, the band recorded their first album in 1971 at the Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios in Hamburg, produced by former Rattles musicians Frank Dostal and Achim Reichel. The line-up at the time of recording was: Werner Stephan (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion), Willie Wagner (guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Frieder Schmitt (organ, piano, electric piano, Mellotron 400, backing vocals), Torsten Herzog (bass, backing vocals) and Kalle Weber (drums, percussion). The sound engineer was none other than Conny Plank.

The eponymous debut album was released in Germany by Polydor in early 1972. Their heavy progressive rock album with a mixture of hard rock, blues and symphonic prog with gritty electric guitar and Hammond organ was generally well received, even though the album was not a commercial success. Nevertheless, they kept their contract with Polydor and toured Germany successfully. Alongside their second LP, No. 2, which was released a year later on the Zebra sub-label, their debut album – of which only around 5,000 copies were pressed – is now a sought-after rarity.