All I've Got to Do

All I've Got to Do is one of several John Lennon compositions inspired by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (You Can Depend on Me). It is track two on the Beatles' second album, With The Beatles. The Beatles never performed this song live. One theory is that Lennon had written the song earlier but had not shared it with McCartney and the others. He pulled it out at the last minute because the Beatles were in need of new material for their second album. It is pretty well established that the other members of the group learned about this song only on the day it was recorded. After that day, it appears to have disappeared from the minds of the group and of its fans. Yet, All I've Got to Do is not just filler for the album: it is an extremely appealing tune, and with an equally appealing message. Lennon said he had the American audience in mind when he wrote it, not just because of the Smokey Robinson influence, but also because the first line, "All I've got to do is call you on the phone," would be unusual for England at the time, when most working class families did not yet have telephones. This song was recorded on September 11, 1963 (along with I Want to be your Man and Little Child) in 14 takes and one overdub, and was mixed on October 10. The album came out on November 22 in the UK and on January 20, 1964 in the US.