"That's the Way Love Is" is a 1967 Tamla (Motown) single recorded by The Isley Brothers and produced by Norman Whitfield.
Marvin Gaye recording
The single was later covered in a 1969 hit version by Marvin Gaye. It 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", Gaye delivers the song in an emotionally wrought fashion, approaching a preacher-like tone through which he tells a woman to "forget" her lover now that the lover has gone off to someone else.
Chart performance
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 (it was held off by The Temptations' "I Can't Get Next To You"), eventually selling a million copies.
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
Charts
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!Chart (1969)
!Peak<br />position
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