Three friends from Gothenburg in Sweden, singer Thomas Engström, guitarist Jan Rognås and bassist Jan Gustavsson, formed the band Shaggy in 1973 with British organist and singer Thomas J. Ryan and Austrian drummer Kurt Kästner. Two years later, from 29 September to 3 October 1975, they recorded their debut album Lessons For Beginners at Tal & Ton Studios in Gothenburg. It was released that same year on the tiny Swedish label Royal, featuring an imaginative front cover illustration by Håkan Sandsjö.

It is one of the first Swedish hard rock releases and offers energetic, English-language heavy rock with progressive elements, based on varied guitar and keyboard playing and a dynamic rhythm section. The instrumental title track even incorporates classical arrangements by the composers Grieg and Brahms. Despite a highly acclaimed performance as the support act for The Sweet at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg in front of over 5,000 spectators, and many other live performances across Scandinavia, this remained their only release. Due to a lack of promotional support from the record label – which had already shut down a year later – no interest in purchasing the record was generated. In 1978, the quintet disbanded. Today, this extremely rare Swedish hard rock LP is considered one of the hardest to find hard rock vinyl records of the 1970s.