"That's the Way Love Goes' is a song written by

Lefty Frizzell William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country music singer-songwriter and honky-tonk singer. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. Frizzell released many songs that charted ...

and

Sanger D. Shafer Sanger D. Shafer (October 24, 1934 – January 12, 2019),
- at country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Johnny Rodriguez Juan Raoul Davis "Johnny" Rodriguez (born December 10, 1951) is an American country music singer. He is a Tejano and Texas country music singer, infusing his music with Latin sounds, and even singing verses of songs in Spanish. In the 1970s an ...

. It was released in December 1973 as the second single from the album ''All I Ever Meant to Do Was Sing''. The song was Rodriguez's fourth hit on the U.S. country chart and third number one in a row. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart.

Cover versions

Connie Smith Connie Smith (born Constance June Meador; August 14, 1941) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Her contralto vocals have been described by music writers as significant and influential to the women of country music. A similarity h ...

recorded the song and made it the title track of her 1974 album '' That's the Way Love Goes''. Frizzell himself recorded a version of the song that, although never charting, has gotten classic country radio airplay.

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

released the song in November 1983 as the second and title track from his album '' That's the Way Love Goes''. Haggard's version was his 30th number one single. His version spent 21 weeks on the charts and won him that year's

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Country Vocal Performance — Male.Whitburn, p. 175 He charted a second rendition of the song in 1999 as a duet with Jewel, taking this version to #56 on the country charts. In 2019,

Crystal Gayle Crystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb; January 9, 1951) is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same as that of her oldest sist ...

covered the song on her '' You Don't Know Me'' album.

Ronnie Dunn Ronald Gene Dunn (born June 1, 1953) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record executive. Starting in 2011, Dunn has worked as a solo artist following the temporary dissolution of Brooks & Dunn. He released his self-titled debu ...

then recorded his own cover for his 2020 release ''

Re-Dunn ''Re-Dunn'' is the fourth solo studio album by country music artist Ronnie Dunn. The album was released January 10, 2020, via LWR. The album is a 24-song project that features covers that have left an impact on Dunn, with him calling it a "passion ...

'', and

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...

covered the song on his 2021 album, ''

Where Have You Gone ''Where Have You Gone'' is the twenty-first studio album by American country artist Alan Jackson, released on May 14, 2021, through ACR/EMI. Content ''Where Have You Gone'' is Jackson's first new studio album since '' Angels and Alcohol'' in 201 ...

''.

Chart performance

Johnny Rodriguez

Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard and Jewel

References

1973 songs 1973 singles 1983 singles Johnny Rodriguez songs Connie Smith songs Merle Haggard songs Jewel (singer) songs Songs written by Sanger D. Shafer Songs written by Lefty Frizzell Song recordings produced by Jerry Kennedy Song recordings produced by Ray Baker (music producer) Mercury Records singles Epic Records singles {{1970s-country-song-stub