He based it on "Can I Do It For You", a song by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy.
Hickory Records released it as the A-side to the Vietnam-themed "The War Drags On" in July 1966.
The song has since been issued on numerous collections of Donovan's music and as a bonus track to his 1965 album Fairytale (1996).
After reconfiguring the band as Eric Burdon and the Animals, they continued to perform it in their live set and released it as the title track of a four-song EP in France in 1967.
Others to record the song include the Jim Kweskin & His Jug Band on their 1966 self-titled debut album; the Soul Survivors for the B-side to their 1967 hit "Expressway to Your Heart"; Belfast Gypsies (1967); Santa Esmeralda (1977); The Vietnam Veterans on their debut album On The Right Track Now (1983) and The Raconteurs on Help Us Stranger (2019).