Like their previous hit "You Really Got Me", the song relies on a simple sliding power chordriff, although this song's riff is slightly more complicated, incorporating a B Flat after the chords F and G. Otherwise, the recordings are similar in beat and structure, with similar background vocals, progressions, and guitar solos. Dave Davies claimed that the song was where he "found his voice," saying, "I liked the guitar sound on 'All Day And All Of The Night,' the second single we had. When they tried to develop amplifiers that had pre-gain and all, I thought it wasn't quite right, and I struggled with the sound for a while. I never liked Marshalls, because they sounded like everybody else. Then in the mid '70s I started using Peavey, and people said, "Nobody uses Peavey - country and western bands use them" . I used to blow them up every night. I used two Peavey Maces together, and it was brilliant." Jimmy Page may have appeared on the single's b-side, "I Gotta Move", which gives credits as "possibly Jimmy Page acoustic 12 string guitar, else Ray Davies".
Similarities between the song and the Doors' 1968 song, "Hello, I Love You" have been pointed out. Ray Davies said on the topic: "My publisher wanted to sue. I was unwilling to do that. I think they cut a deal somewhere, but I don't know the details." Dave Davies said of this: "That one is the most irritating of all of all of them... I did a show where I played "All Day and All of the Night" and stuck in a piece of 'Hello, I Love You.' There was some response, there were a few smiles. But I've never understood why nobody's ever said anything about it. You can't say anything about the Doors. You're not allowed to." In the liner notes to the Doors Box set, Robby Krieger has denied the allegations that the song's musical structure was stolen from Ray Davies. Instead, he said the song's vibe was taken from Cream's song "Sunshine of Your Love". According to the Doors biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, courts in the UK determined in favour of Davies and any royalties for the song are paid to him.
EP track listing
The song was also the title track of an extended play single in some territories and was not included on an album at the time of its release. In the UK, it was included on the Kinksize Hits EP. The track listing for the European EP was as follows: Side 1
