“All I Really Want to Do” is today’s classic song of the day. It was written by Bob Dylan and included on his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan. He wrote the song earlier in 1964 and first performed it at the Newport Folk Festival on July 26, 1964.
The song was made famous by its cover versions. The most popular version was by Cher. Released as a single in June of 1965, her version of “All I Really Want to Do” went all the way to #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Cash Box Top 100. It was the first single released under the name of Cher; her previous single, 1964’s “Dream Baby,” was released under her real name of Cherilyn.
Cher and her then-husband Sonny Bono decided to record “All I Really Want to Do” after hearing the Byrds perform it at Ciro’s nightclub on the Sunset Strip. The Byrds also released the song as a single, in June of 1965. Their version battled it out head-to-head with Cher’s on radio stations across the country but came up a little short. The Byrds’ single only got as high as #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it cracked the top ten on UK charts.
For today’s daily bonus video of the day, here’s Cher singing “All I Want to Do” on the April 27, 1975, episode of The Cher Show.
And for a little bit more fun, here’s Cher (with Sonny looking on) lip-synching “All I Really Want to Do” ten years earlier on the May 26, 1965 episode of Shindig!. Or, as host Jimmy O’Neill called her, “the pretty half of Sonny & Cher.” Agreed on that.
