There has never been any shortage of compilation albums over the years; some firms, such as the redoubtable K-Tel, seem to owe their very existence to repackaging other people's hits. During the Seventies, hundreds of compilations were issued, and while some of them, such as the Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders, are still sought after today, most have faded away like their cardboard LP sleeves. Not too many were assembled with the betterment of humanity in mind; fewer still contained actual Beatles music.

Then there is Do It Now, which, according to the back panel, "is a celebration of life — a feeling of energy and love by the poets, artists and musicians who have joined together to speak for a purpose — to relay the message against drug abuse." And while I suppose one might argue that enlisting the aid of, say, Eric Burdon in the fight against drug use was rather like preventing forest fires by dousing cigarette butts with Shell Super-Premium, I'm not about to quibble with the liner's statement that "[n]ever before in the history of the recording industry have so many artists of such stature donated their services for a collage album."

In fact, the Do It Now Foundation, then based in Hollywood, had already put together an album called First Vibration, which contained some of these same tracks; it was apparently TV pitchman Ron Popeil's Ronco Teleproducts which persuaded the foundation to go for some wider distribution. Some of the more arcane tracks off First Vibration were replaced with out-and-out pop tunes, which makes for some odd juxtapositions here and there, but if you were fortunate in those times, your local FM rock outlet was producing some odd juxtapositions of its own.

While Do It Now surely didn't inspire George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh or Bob Geldof's Band Aid, not to mention USA for Africa, it does hold up today as a better-than-average late-Sixties compilation album; it's not wholly dependent on pop singles — some of these tunes didn't even get FM airplay — it doesn't seem to owe its existence to the magnanimity of any one record company, and, rarest of all, it has a track by the Beatles. If it's not unique, it's awfully close. About the only downside is the weird slowing-down of three tracks towards the end, as though the licensing firm were saying "We really don't want you to hear this correctly unless you buy a copy of the record from us," something I've seen on other compilations of this vintage. If you're not expecting it, you might wonder if maybe you were on, um, drugs.

Further exploration: The Do It Now Foundation still exists today, at PO Box 27568, Tempe, AZ 85285-7568. They don't sell records these days, but they have an extensive library of anti-drug (and anti-other nasty things) publications of interest.

Track listing:
(stereo except where noted; tracks marked "mono" may be rechanneled)

• Nowhere Man (John Lennon-Paul McCartney) The Beatles
• What Have They Done To My Song, Ma (Melanie Safka) Melanie
• Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (Joey Levine-Ritchie Cordell) Crazy Elephant
• I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams) B. J. Thomas (mono, slows down at end)
• Backfield In Motion (Herbert McPherson-Melvin Harden) Mel & Tim
• Red House (Jimi Hendrix) Jimi Hendrix (mono)
• God, Love And Rock & Roll (Skip Knape-David Teegarden) Teegarden & Van Winkle (slows down at end)
• Mr. Bojangles (Jerry Jeff Walker) Neil Diamond
• Along Comes Mary (Tandyn Almer) The Association
• Somebody To Love (Darby Slick) Jefferson Airplane
• Down On Me (Janis Joplin) Big Brother and the Holding Company
• Flying On The Ground Is Wrong (Neil Young) Buffalo Springfield
• Minstrel From Gault (Richie Havens-Mark Roth) Richie Havens
• Happy Together (Alan Gordon-Garry Bonner) The Turtles
• Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) (Gary DeCarlo-Dale Frashuer-Paul Leka) Steam (slows down at end)
• Artificial Energy (Roger McGuinn) The Byrds
• Vehicle (Jim Peterik) The Ides Of March (mono)
• When I Was Young (Eric Burdon-Victor Briggs-John Weider-Barry Jenkins-Jimmy McCulloch) Eric Burdon and The Animals (mono)
• Sunshine Superman (Donovan Leitch) Donovan (4:30 LP version)
• O-o-h Child (Stan Vincent) Five Stairsteps

Cover design by Ely Besalel