The recording sessions for 39/Smooth cost $675. Green Day recorded the album at Art of Ears Studio in San Francisco, with sessions beginning in late December 1989 and finishing in January 1990.
At the time, Green Day were still an underground East Bay punk band associated with the 924 Gilman Street scene. The album was produced by the band with Andy Ernst and released by Lookout Records on April 13, 1990. Its modest studio bill reflects the group’s small-label beginnings, years before Dookie made them internationally famous.
39/Smooth is Green Day’s debut studio album, although it is sometimes confused with 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. The latter is a later compilation combining 39/Smooth with the 1,000 Hours and Slappy EPs. The album is also notable for being the only Green Day full-length featuring drummer John Kiffmeyer, better known as Al Sobrante.