That's the Way Love Is (The Isley Brothers song)
"That's the Way Love Is" | ||||
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Single by Marvin Gaye | ||||
from the album M.P.G./That's the Way Love Is | ||||
Released | August 7, 1969 | |||
Recorded | 1969, Hitsville U.S.A. | |||
Genre | Soul, psychedelic soul, funk | |||
Length | 3:35 | |||
Label | Tamla | |||
Writer(s) |
Norman Whitfield Barrett Strong | |||
Producer(s) | Norman Whitfield | |||
Marvin Gaye singles chronology | ||||
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"That's the Way Love Is" is a 1967 Tamla (Motown) single recorded by The Isley Brothers and produced by Norman Whitfield, later covered in a 1969 hit version by Marvin Gaye.
The single was his third consecutive million-selling solo hit after "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" written by Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Whitfield took the up-tempo Isley Brothers record, and turned it into a slowed-down psychedelic soul opus. Like "Grapevine", the song is sung by an emotionally wrought Gaye, singing the song in a preacher-like tone, who tells a woman to "forget" her lover now that that lover has gone off to someone else.
The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard pop singles chart and held the #2 spot for five weeks on the soul singles chart in October 1969, eventually selling a million copies. The Temptations also covered the song as a B-side of "Psychedelic Shack" and released on their 1969 album Puzzle People.
The song was covered for the 1991 Alan Parker film The Commitments.
Personnel
Isley Brothers version
- Lead vocals by Ronald Isley
- Background vocals by O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley and The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow and Louvain Demps
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Marvin Gaye version
- Lead Vocals by Marvin Gaye
- Background Vocals by The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow and Louvain Demps
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Temptations version
- Lead vocals by Dennis Edwards and Paul Williams
- Background vocals by Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, and Otis Williams
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
The Commitments version
- Lead vocals by Imelda Quirke (Angeline Ball)
- Background vocals by Natalie Murphy (Maria Doyle) and Bernie McGloughlin (Bronagh Gallagher)
- Instrumentation by The Commitments