All I've Got to Do

Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other "All I've Got to Do" is a song written by John LennonTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and performed by the English rock band the Beatles on their second British album, With the Beatles (1963).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In the United States, "All I've Got to Do" originally appeared on Meet the Beatles! (1964).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Dennis Alstrand, the song is the first time in rock and roll or rock music in which the bass player plays chords as a vital part of the song.Template:Sfn

Inspiration

Lennon said he was "trying to do Smokey Robinson again," and Ian MacDonald compared it to "(You Can) Depend on Me" by the Miracles, both musically and lyrically.Template:Sfn Richie Unterberger of AllMusic said it sounds like Robinson but also Arthur Alexander.Template:Sfn Beatles biographer Bob Spitz said the song is "restlessly dark and moody", and compared it to the Shirelles' "Baby It's You" (a song the Beatles previously covered) and early Drifters recordings.Template:Sfn

It was one of three songs Lennon was the principal writer for on With the Beatles, with "It Won't Be Long"Template:Sfn and "Not a Second Time".Template:Sfn Lennon said that it was written specifically for the American market, because the idea of calling a girl on the telephone was unthinkable to a British youth in the early 1960s. For instance, Lennon said in an interview regarding "No Reply": "I had the image of walking down the street and seeing her silhouetted in the window and not answering the 'phone, although I have never called a girl on the 'phone in my life! Because 'phones weren't part of the English child's life."Template:Sfn

Recording

The band recorded the song in a single recording session on 11 September 1963 in 14 takes with one overdub, take 15. The master take was take 15.Template:Sfn It was mixed for mono on 30 September and for stereo on 29 October.Template:Sfn

Although music journalist Steve Turner claims the song was written in 1961,Template:Sfn MacDonald said the song was never in the Beatles' live repertoire, which explains why 8 of the 14 takes were incomplete: the band was unfamiliar with the song.Template:Sfn

Release

In the UK, "All I've Got to Do" was released on With the Beatles which also includes the Beatles' cover of "You Really Got a Hold on Me" by the Miracles,Template:Sfn the most direct connection between the album and Robinson's music. In the US, Capitol Records pulled "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" off Meet the Beatles!, releasing it later on The Beatles' Second Album.Template:Sfn

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald:Template:Sfn

• John Lennon – lead vocal, rhythm guitar
• Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass
• George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums

Cover versions

• In 2007, the Smithereens covered "All I've Got to Do"—and all the other songs on Meet The Beatles!—on their tribute album Meet the Smithereens!.Template:Sfn
• Toxic Audio covered it on Come Together: An A Cappella Tribute to The Beatles.Template:Sfn

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "All I've Got to Do"