Half of the 14 songs on With The Beatles were written by John and Paul most of these were written specifically for the album, 'All I've Got To Do', however, was written entirely by John in 1961. The track was, he said, an attempt "to do Smokey Robinson again", In 1980, while in the studio recording his vocal track for 'Woman', Yoko commented that John sounded like a Beatle, "Actually I'm supposed to be Smokey Robinson at the moment, my dear," John answered, "because the Beatles were always supposing that they were Smokey Robinson."

William 'Smokey Robinson was, in 1963, the 23-year-old leader of the Detroit-based Miracles, a sweet-voiced singer who could also write, arrange and produce songs, Bob Dylan, with perhaps only half his tongue in his cheek, once referred to his as his favorite living poet. The Beatles also covered his song "You Really Got A Hold On Me' on this album, which had been a US Top 10 for the Miracles in February 1963. "When they recorded that, it was one of the most flattering things that ever happen to me," said Smokey, "I listened to it over and over again, not to criticize but to enjoy it."

The Beatles recorded 'All I've Got To Do' on September 11, 1963 for release on their second LP "With The Beatles." The song was recorded in 14 takes. Take 15 - an overdub - was used for release. The mono mix was prepared on September 30; the stereo mix on October 29.

When Capital released this track on January 20, 1964 on the US LP "Meet The Beatles" the stereo version was reprocessed with echo and reverb added.

On February 26, 1987 the album "With The Beatles" was released in both the US and the UK on the CD format. Originally, a new stereo mix was prepared for this release; however, George Martin later remixed the album in mono. The new mono mix is found on the CD release of the album "With The Beatles."