"That's Life" is a popular song written by Dean Kay and

Kelly Gordon Kelly Gordon (November 19, 1932 – August 1, 1981) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. His input on Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" catapulted the song to fame and led to a collaboration and lasting friendship. He also co ...

, and first recorded in 1963 by Marion Montgomery. The song has an uplifting message that, despite the ups and downs in life, one should not give up but keep positive, because soon one will be ''"back on top."'' The most famous version is by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, released on his 1966 album ''That's Life''. Sinatra recorded the song after hearing an earlier recording of it by O.C. Smith; the song proved successful and reached the #4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. Following the success of Sinatra's version, it was subsequently recorded by a number of artists including

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and a pianist of extraordinary technical skill, he was dubbed "the Blac ...

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James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Known for his wild and energetic stage persona, he was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen for three stints: from 1974 to 1985, during 1996, and from 2006 to when ...

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo a ...

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, Deana Martin, and Holt McCallany. Sinatra's version appeared in the 1993 film ''

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'', the 1995 film '' Casper'', the 2019 film '' Joker'' and its 2024 sequel '' Joker: Folie à Deux'', the 2004 video game ''

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 ''Tony Hawk's Underground 2'' is a 2004 skateboarding video game from Activision, the sixth entry in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series after ''Tony Hawk's Underground'' (2003). It was developed by Neversoft released on October 4, 2004 in the U.S. for the ...

'', as well as the sixth season finale of ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural sitcom television series that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and later on NBC, from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

'', while a cover by

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

was on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of '' The Good Thief'' (2002).

Background

Marion Montgomery was signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

after being discovered by singer

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

. Montgomery recorded "That's Life", written by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon, in 1963. It was released the same year, but failed to chart. Leszczak (2014): p. 199

Frank Sinatra version

While "That's Life" was first recorded by Marion Montgomery, the song came to the attention of

when he heard O.C. Smith's chart-climbing version in his car in 1965. He stopped the car, called his daughter Nancy and told her to find the publisher of the song because he wanted to record it; she did. Sinatra first performed the song on his television special '' A Man and His Music – Part II'' in 1966, with an arrangement by

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many vocalists at Capitol Records, including ...

. The recorded version, made on July 25, 1966 at United Recording, Hollywood, was arranged and conducted by

Ernie Freeman Ernest Aaron Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop music, pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s. B ...

and produced by

Jimmy Bowen James Albert Bowen (born November 30, 1937) is an American record producer and former rockabilly singer. Bowen brought Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together, and introduced Sinatra to Mel Tillis for their album, ''Mel & Nancy.'' Early life ...

. The trio had previously worked together earlier in 1966 on "

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", which got Sinatra the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Male Vocal. For "That's Life", the background singers were the vocal contractor and singer B.J. Baker, along with Gwen Johnson and Jackie Ward. 40 first-chair musicians were also assembled for Sinatra's recording including

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

and many of the members of the Wrecking Crew. Sinatra took two passes at the song. He ended the first take with, "Oh yeah." Bowen asked him to perform it again, which annoyed 'one take' Sinatra – resulting in the biting performance Bowen was looking for - which Sinatra tagged with the defiant, "My, My". Bowen's vision for the rest of the album was to mirror "That's Life" onto the other songs so they all sounded similar, rather than fill it with what he viewed as typical Sinatra-style songs. This was as a result of his work on the ''

'' album, where Bowen felt that the titular single did not match the rest of the album, which was more of a classic Sinatra sound. So for the '' That's Life'' album, the other album tracks had similar

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

accompaniments. Both the album and the song proved major successes for Sinatra. The song was a number-four hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and reached number one on the

Easy Listening chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary music, adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on ...

for three weeks in December 1966/January 1967. Whitburn (2002): p. 223. In Canada, the song reached number three. Sinatra's recording of "That's Life" was later used in the 1993 film ''

'' alongside his recording of "Same Old Song and Dance". It was also featured in the 2004 video game ''

'', and also plays during the game's credits. The song was also in the 1988 film ''

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'', a scene where the main character puts clown makeup on and the final scene of the 2019 film ''Joker'', and during the final scene of the final episode of the sixth season of the

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television comedy series ''

''.

Personnel

Vocalists

– lead vocals * Betty Allan – background vocals * Betty Jean Baker – background vocals * Gwenn Johnson – background vocals * Jackie Ward – background vocals

Leaders

–

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Donnie Lanier Don Lanier (July 13, 1936 – July 23, 2014) was an American songwriter and composer. He composed and wrote dozens of songs for artists including Ray Charles, Dean Martin, The Everly Brothers and Hank Snow. His latest contributions as a songwrit ...

– conductor

String section

* Norman Botnick – viola * Ray Brown – string bass * Joseph DiFiore – viola * Joseph DiTullio – cello * Armand Kaproff – cello * Alex Neiman – viola * Kurt Reher – cello * Frederick Seykora – cello * Abraham Weiss – viola

Horn section

* Louis Blackburn – trombone *

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in ...

– saxophone, woodwinds * Bill Green – saxophone, woodwinds * Dick Hyde – trombone *

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. () (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s " The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and bar ...

– saxophone, woodwinds * Cappy Lewis – trumpet * Lew McCreary – trombone * Oliver Mitchell – trumpet * Willie Schwartz – saxophone, woodwinds *

Anthony Terran Anthony Terran (May 30, 1926 – March 20, 2017) was an American trumpet player and session musician. He was part of the Wrecking Crew, a group of largely uncredited session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who helped famous artists record ...

– trumpet

Rhythm section

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

– drums * Eddie Brackett Jr. – percussion * Lawrence Knechtel –

Fender bass The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is b ...

* Michael Melvoin – organ * Bill Miller – piano *

Ray Pohlman Merlyn Ray Pohlman (July 22, 1930 – November 1, 1990) was an American session musician and arranger who played both upright bass and bass guitar, and also did sessions as a guitarist. He is credited with being the first electric bass player in ...

– electric guitar

Other versions

1960s to 1970s

Although the O.C. Smith version had proved successful in areas such Detroit and Los Angeles, it was not until Sinatra's cover of it went high in the charts that the earlier version was released nationally. As well as the Smith release, "That's Life" was recorded on several albums following Sinatra's success with it, including the

album ''

Aretha Arrives ''Aretha Arrives'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on August 4, 1967, by Atlantic Records. Its first single release was " Baby I Love You", a million-selling Gold 45, which hit #1 R&B and #4 on the '' ...

'', in addition to recordings by

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

, and

. Brown recorded the song for his 1968 album '' Live at the Apollo, Volume II''. Brown's studio-recorded version appeared on the soundtrack for the 1999 film ''

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''. The Peddlers recorded a version in 1969 which was released on a single.

1980s to 2020s

Former Van Halen frontman,

, released a version and video, in 1986, for his first solo LP

Eat 'Em and Smile ''Eat 'Em and Smile'' is the debut studio album by former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth, released on July 7, 1986. It follows his successful debut EP '' Crazy from the Heat'' (1985). The album was certified platinum in the U.S., selling over ...

. Deana Martin also recorded "That's Life" on her 2016 released album, ''Swing Street''. This was not the only occasion when the song appeared on a film's soundtrack. In 2002, a recording by

and composed by

Elliot Goldenthal Elliot Goldenthal (born May 2, 1954) is an American composer of contemporary classical music and film and theatrical scores. A student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, he is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend variou ...

appeared on the

for '' The Good Thief''. The song was also covered in " Opening Night", a second-season episode of the American television series '' Smash'', by

Katharine McPhee Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American actress and singer. In May 2006, she was the runner-up on the fifth season of ''American Idol.'' Her eponymous debut album was released on RCA Records in January 2007, and debuted at n ...

and

Megan Hilty Megan Hilty (born March 29, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She rose to prominence for her roles in Broadway musicals, including her performance as Glinda in '' Wicked'', Doralee Rhodes in '' 9 to 5: The Musical'', and her Tony Award– ...

. Vik Sahay performed the song on an episode of ''

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

''.

performed the song in the American musical thriller film '' Joker: Folie à Deux'' (2024). She released her version of the song on ''

Harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

'' (2024), a companion album to the film.

Charts

Frank Sinatra version David Lee Roth version Van Morrison with Georgie Fame version

Certifications

Notes

Sources

* * * * Certain revisions by Dean Kay writer of "That's Life" and recording session attendee. deankay.com