That's the Way

That's the Way may refer to:

That's the Way (Led Zeppelin song)

"That's the Way" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their third album, Led Zeppelin III, released in 1970. Like several of the tracks on the album, it is an acoustic song and is particularly noted as being one of the most gentle and mellow compositions in the Led Zeppelin catalogue.

Musical composition

The studio version features Jimmy Page playing acoustic guitar in open G♭ tuning, pedal steel, dulcimer, and bass guitar while John Paul Jones plays mandolin. There is no presence of John Bonham's drums on the track, and light tambourine and bass guitar is added towards the end of the song.

Writing

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote this piece in 1970 on a retreat at Bron-Yr-Aur cottage, Wales. Page explained:

In an interview he gave to Mojo magazine in 2010, he elaborated:

Original working title of the song was "The Boy Next Door". According to Stephen Davis's biography of Led Zeppelin, Hammer of the Gods, the song's lyrics reflected Plant's views on the ecology and environment. There are also several lines in the song which reflected on the way Led Zeppelin was sometimes treated in America during their early concert tours, when they were sometimes spat on, had guns drawn on them and were heckled at airports and on planes. They were also troubled about the violence that they had seen policemen visit upon youth who protested the war in Vietnam, as well as upon the fans at their shows, particularly during their spring 1970 tour of the United States:

That's the Way (I Like It)

"That's the Way (I Like It)" is a song by the American group KC and the Sunshine Band from their second studio album. At the time, this song was considered by some to be rather risqué because of the obvious meaning behind the title as well as its chorus with multiple "uh-huhs" and its verses.

The song is in natural minor.

KC and the Sunshine Band version

"That's the Way (I Like It)" became the band's second number-one hit in the Billboard Hot 100, and it is one of the few chart-toppers in history to hit number one on more than one occasion during a one-month period, as it did between November and December 1975. This song topped the American pop chart for one week, and then it was replaced by another disco song, "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention. "That's the Way (I Like It)" returned to number-one for one more week after "Fly, Robin, Fly" completed three weeks at the top. "That's the Way (I Like It)" also spent one week at number-one in the soul singles chart.

That's the Way God Planned It

That's The Way God Planned It is the fourth studio album by American musician Billy Preston, released in August 1969 on Apple Records. The album followed Preston's collaboration with the Beatles on their "Get Back" single and was produced by George Harrison. The title track became a hit in the UK when issued as a single. Aside from Harrison, other contributors to the album include Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Doris Troy.

1969 liner notes

Derek Taylor's sleevenotes to the original Apple release praised Preston as a wonderful new signing. "Billy Preston is the best thing to happen to Apple this year. He’s young and beautiful and kind and he sings and plays like the son of God."

Preston himself wrote in the notes:

Reception

Record Collector's reviewer writes that "[The album reveals] the organist to be an accomplished, spiritually engaging singer-songwriter." In his preview of Apple Records' 2010 reissues, for Rolling Stone, David Fricke lists That's the Way God Planned It among his top five non-Beatle Apple albums. Fricke writes of the song "That's the Way God Planned It": "[Preston] would have bigger hits in the Seventies but never make a better one than this album's rapturous title track … The rest of the album is solid church-infused soul, with Preston covering both Bob Dylan and W.C. Handy." Reviewing the album for Blues & Soul magazine, Sharon Davis writes that "this is an extremely worthy release; reminding us of Billy's enormous and irreplaceable contribution to music."

That's the Way God Planned It (song)

"That's the Way God Planned It" is a song by American musician Billy Preston and the title track to his 1969 album of the same name. Issued as a single, the song was Preston's first release on the Beatles' Apple record label, following his guest role on the band's "Get Back" single. The lyrics to "That's the Way God Planned It" partly reflect the long musical apprenticeship Preston had served since childhood, mentored by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, while musically the track combines the gospel tradition with rock. Produced by George Harrison in London, the recording also features contributions from Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Ginger Baker and Doris Troy. Having been edited down to three minutes for its single release, the full version appeared on the album, as "That's the Way God Planned It (Parts 1 & 2)".

"That's the Way God Planned It" became an international hit, peaking at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, and is one of Preston's best-known songs. Backed again by Harrison and Clapton, Preston sung it at the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971 – a high-spirited performance that several commentators regard as a highlight of that historic show, after its inclusion in the 1972 concert film. The single then charted for a second time on the Billboard Hot 100 when reissued by Apple in the United States.