View source for All I've Got to Do

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = All I've Got to Do
| cover    = [[File:All I've Got to Do sheet music cover.jpg|160px]]
| caption  = Cover of the [[Northern Songs]] sheet music<br>(licensed to Sonora Musikförlag)
| alt      =
| type     =
| artist   = [[the Beatles]]
| album    = [[With the Beatles]]
| released = 22 November 1963
| format   =
| recorded = 11 September 1963
| studio   = [[Abbey Road Studios|EMI]], London
| venue    =
| genre    = {{hlist|[[Pop rock]]|[[soul music|soul]]}}
| length   = 2:04
| label    = [[Parlophone]] (UK)<br />[[Capitol Records|Capitol]] (US)
| writer   = [[Lennon–McCartney]]
| producer = [[George Martin]]
}}
"'''All I've Got to Do'''" is a song written by [[John Lennon]]{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=193}}{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=148}} (credited to [[Lennon–McCartney]]) and performed by the English rock band [[the Beatles]] on their second British album, ''[[With the Beatles]]'' (1963).{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=200}}{{sfn|Cross|2005|p=492}} In the United States, "All I've Got to Do" originally appeared on ''[[Meet the Beatles!]]'' (1964).{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=200}}{{sfn|Cross|2005|pp=547–548}} 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.{{sfn|Alstrand|2009}}

==Inspiration==
Lennon said he was "trying to do [[Smokey Robinson]] again,"<ref>Dowlding, William. ''Beatlesongs''. New York: Touchstone, 1989, p. 49.</ref> and [[Ian MacDonald]] compared it to "[[(You Can) Depend on Me]]" by [[the Miracles]], both musically and lyrically.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=97}} [[Richie Unterberger]] of [[AllMusic]] said it sounds like Robinson but also [[Arthur Alexander]].{{sfn|Unterberger|2007}} 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 [[The Drifters|Drifters]] recordings.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=446}}

It was one of three songs Lennon was the principal writer for on ''With the Beatles'', with "[[It Won't Be Long]]"{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=170}} and "[[Not a Second Time]]".{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=194}} 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 (song)|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."{{sfn|Badman|2000|p=135}}

==Recording==
The band recorded the song in a single recording session on 11 September 1963 in 14 [[take]]s with one [[overdubbing|overdub]], take 15. The master take was take 15.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=35}} It was [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixed]] for mono on 30 September and for stereo on 29 October.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|pp=36, 37}}

Although music journalist [[Steve Turner (writer)|Steve Turner]] claims the song was written in 1961,{{sfn|Turner|2005|p=35}} 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.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=97}}

==Release==
In the UK, "All I've Got to Do" was released on ''With the Beatles'' which also includes the Beatles' [[cover version|cover]] of "[[You Really Got a Hold on Me]]" by the Miracles,{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=200}} 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]]''.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=200}}

==Personnel==
According to [[Ian MacDonald]]:{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=97}}
*[[John Lennon]] &ndash; lead vocal, rhythm guitar
*[[Paul McCartney]] &ndash; backing vocal, bass
*[[George Harrison]] &ndash; backing vocal, lead guitar
*[[Ringo Starr]] &ndash; drums

==Cover versions==
* In 2007, [[the Smithereens]] [[cover version|covered]] "All I've Got to Do"—and all the other songs on ''Meet The Beatles!''—on their tribute album ''[[Meet the Smithereens!]]''.{{sfn|Deming|2007}}
* [[Toxic Audio]] covered it on ''Come Together: An A Cappella Tribute to The Beatles''.{{sfn|Legett|2007}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|2}}
* {{cite web 
 |last=Alstrand 
 |first=Dennis 
 |title=The Evolution of Rock Bass Playing; McCartney Style: 1963 
 |url=http://www.alstrand.com/evolution/1963.htm 
 |accessdate=9 December 2009 
 |ref={{SfnRef|Alstrand|2009}} 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101173008/http://www.alstrand.com/evolution/1963.htm 
 |archivedate=1 January 2010 
 |url-status=dead 
 }}
* {{cite book
| last=Badman
| first=Keith
| year=2000
| title=The Beatles Off the Record
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Cross
| first=Craig
| year=2005
| title=The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record
| publisher=[[iUniverse]]
| location=Lincoln, NE
| isbn=0-595-34663-4
}}
* {{cite web
| last=Deming
| first=Mark
| year=2007
| title=Review of ''Meet the Smithereens''
|publisher=AllMusic
| url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r942519|pure_url=yes}}
| accessdate=16 March 2007
}}
* {{cite web
| last=Legett
| first=Steve
| year=2007
| title=Review of ''Come Together: An A Cappella Tribute to the Beatles''
|publisher=AllMusic
| url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r592948|pure_url=yes}}
| accessdate=16 March 2007
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Lewisohn
| first=Mark
| year=1988
| author-link=Mark Lewisohn
| title=The Beatles Recording Sessions
| publisher=[[Harmony Books]]
| location=New York
| isbn=0-517-57066-1
}}
* {{cite book
| last=MacDonald
| first=Ian
| year=2005
| author-link=Ian MacDonald
| title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties
| edition=Second Revised
| publisher=Pimlico (Rand)
| location=London
| isbn=1-84413-828-3
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Miles
| first=Barry
| year=1997
| author-link=Barry Miles
| title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now
| publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]]
| location=New York
| isbn=0-8050-5249-6
| url-access=registration
| url=https://archive.org/details/paulmccartneyman00mile
}}
* {{cite web
| last=Pollack
| first=Alan W
| year=1991
| author-link=Alan W Pollack
| title=Notes on "All I've Got to Do"
| work=Notes on ... Series
| url=http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/aigtd.shtml
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Sheff
| first=David
| year=2000
| author-link=David Sheff
| title=All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
| publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]
| location=New York
| isbn=0-312-25464-4
| url-access=registration
| url=https://archive.org/details/allwearesayingla00lenn
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Spitz
| first=Bob
| year=2005
| author-link=Bob Spitz
| title=The Beatles: The Biography
| url=https://archive.org/details/beatlesbiography00spit
| url-access=registration
| publisher=[[Little, Brown]]
| location=Boston
| isbn=0-316-80352-9
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Turner
| first=Steve
| year=2005
| author-link=Steve Turner (writer)
| title=A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song
| publisher=[[Harper Paperbacks]]
| location=New York
| edition=3rd
| isbn=0-06-084409-4
}}
* {{cite web
| last=Unterberger
| first=Richie
| year=2007
| author-link=Richie Unterberger
| title=Review of "All I've Got to Do"
|publisher=AllMusic
| url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t9761|pure_url=yes}}
| accessdate=16 March 2007
}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|With the Beatles}}
* {{Notes on|http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/aigtd.shtml}}

{{With The Beatles}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1963 songs]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by George Martin]]
[[Category:The Beatles songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Lennon–McCartney]]
[[Category:Songs published by Northern Songs]]
[[Category:Songs about telephone calls]]