By 1968, Donovan had released a string of hit singles and albums in both the United States and United Kingdom. With his popularity reaching its zenith,
Hickory Records compiled and released
Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be from his 1965 Pye Records catalog. Although Donovan's Pye recordings bore little resemblance to his subsequent material, Hickory released the album with brightly colorful artwork reminiscent of Donovan's latest albums for
Epic Records. The back cover contained a pair of reprinted fan letters; one a testimonial from a young female fan, the other thanks from a middle-aged businessman for the way one of Donovan's songs had caused him to reconsider life. (The song unfortunately was not named.) While most of the songs on
Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be had been released on ''
What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (US-title: Catch the Wind
), Fairytale, and The Real Donovan'', the new compilation did contain "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do" and Donovan's recording of
Bert Jansch's "Do You Hear Me Now?", neither of which had been included on any of Donovan's US long players. The album charted for 4 weeks, reaching No. 177 on the
Billboard Top LPs chart in the United States. ==Album origins of tracks==