Donovan - Like it Is, Was, & Evermore Shall Be

I guess I’ll be disclosing my ancient age, but 1968 was a pivotal year in my life. The U.S. industrial-military complex decided that in order to expand & maintain their imperialist war in Vietnam that it was necessary to institute a Draft Lottery for the inscription of young men into the war machine. My lottery number was 40. I was destined for tropical Southeast Asia unless things in my life drastically changed. Donovan was a big influence on me at that time. Often mentioned together in musickal commentaries of the time, Dylan was the greater poet & probably the better musickian, but songs like “Universal Soldier” & “The War Drags On” put Donovan’s humanity squarely into the minds of a generation, while classics like “Catch the Wind” & "Sunny Goodge Street" touched that deepest spot within our souls where we all desired to reside.

Like it Is, Was, & Evermore Shall Be is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan (Leitch) released in the U.S. on Hickory Records in April 1968. This was the second Hickory Records compilation using Donovan's 1965 Pye Records material, following the moderately successful The Real Donovan from 1966. By 1968, Donovan had released a string of hit singles & albums in both the U.S. & U.K.

Although most of the songs on Like it Is, Was, & Evermore Shall Be had been released on: What's Bin Did & What's Bin Hid (U.S. title: Catch the Wind); Fairytale; The Universal Soldier ep & the Turquoise single , the new compilation did contain "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do" & a cover of Bert Jansch's "Do You Hear Me Now?", neither of which had been included on any of Donovan's U.S. lps.

The following are the original releases of each song:

"Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?" b-side of "Catch the Wind" released March 12, 1965;
"Josie" & "Catch the Wind" from What's Bin Did & What's Bin Hid released May 14, 1965;
"Summer Day Reflection Song", "Colours", "To Try for the Sun", & "Sunny Goodge Street" from Fairytale released October 22, 1965;
"Do You Hear Me Now?", "Universal Soldier", & “The War Drags On” from The Universal Soldier ep released August 15, 1965;
& "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)" b-side of "Turquoise" released October 30, 1965.

Year of Release: 1968
Label: Hickory Records LPS143
Genre: Alt-folk

Tracklist:
Side 1-
Summer Day Reflection Song
Do You Hear Me Now? (Bert Jansch)
Colours
Universal Soldier (Buffy Sainte-Marie)
Josie
Catch the Wind

Side 2-
Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?
To Try for the Sun
Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)
The War Drags On" (Mick Softly)
Sunny Goodge Street

Download: Donovan - Like it Is, Was, & Evermore Shall Be
Download Size: 70.3MB (ripped from 40 yr. old vinyl at 320Kpbs)