The album was produced for Cher by her then husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono, with contributions from arranger Harold Battiste.

[2] After the success of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" single, Bono decided to promote his wife as a solo act, producing her first full-length album himself.

[3] On the album, Cher covered three songs written and performed by Bob Dylan, "All I Really Want to Do", "Blowin' in the Wind", and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right".

[2] The album also included Ray Davies' "I Go to Sleep", which was later a hit in the UK for The Pretenders, and Cher's version of the traditional song, "See See Rider", arranged by Sonny Bono, Charles Greene, and Robert Stone.

The initial idea to cover "All I Really Want to Do" came when Cher heard the Los Angeles folk-rock band the Byrds perform it during their pre-fame residency at Ciro's nightclub on the Sunset Strip in March 1965.

[5] Although the Byrds planned to issue "All I Really Want to Do" as a single themselves, they were largely unconcerned with the imminent release of Cher's recording, feeling that there was enough room in the charts for both versions.

[8] All I Really Want to Do has received positive reviews from music critics, with Tim Sendra, of the Allmusic website, retrospectively giving the album four stars.