Johnny Rodriguez’s “That’s the Way Love Goes”: The 1973 Recording That Became His Third Straight No. 1
Johnny Rodriguez’s “That’s the Way Love Goes”: The 1973 Recording That Became His Third Straight No. 1
How a Lefty Frizzell–Sanger D. Shafer composition became another chart-topper for one of country music’s fastest-rising young stars of the 1970s.
A Classic Country Song Finds Johnny Rodriguez
“That’s the Way Love Goes” was written by country great Lefty Frizzell and songwriter Sanger D. “Whitey” Shafer. Frizzell recorded the song for his 1973 album The Legendary, but Johnny Rodriguez soon gave the composition its first major chart success.
Rodriguez recorded the song for his second album, All I Ever Meant to Do Was Sing, with Jerry Kennedy producing. Mercury released it as a single in December 1973.
The timing was ideal. Rodriguez had already enjoyed a spectacular breakthrough year, and the new single arrived while he was rapidly establishing himself as one of country music’s most successful young performers.
What Does “That’s the Way Love Goes” Mean?
The song presents love as something powerful, unpredictable and impossible to control completely.
Rather than treating romance as a simple promise of happiness, the lyric accepts that love can bring both pleasure and disappointment. People continue pursuing it despite the emotional risks because attraction and attachment are part of human nature.
That mixture of tenderness and resignation suited Rodriguez’s smooth country delivery. His performance does not force the emotion; instead, it allows the melody and lyric to express a mature acceptance of the way relationships can unfold.
How Strongly Did Audiences Respond?
There is no reliable historical statistic showing exactly how many individual fans the recording created, so chart performance provides a better measure.
The single became Johnny Rodriguez’s third consecutive No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart. It spent one week at the top in February 1974 and a total of 14 weeks on the chart.
In Canada, it reached No. 2 on the RPM country chart.
The song’s durability is also demonstrated by later recordings. Merle Haggard took his own version to No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart in 1984, proving that the Frizzell-Shafer composition could succeed with another generation of listeners.
What Did the Song Do for Johnny Rodriguez’s Career?
“That’s the Way Love Goes” strengthened one of the most impressive early runs by a new country artist in the 1970s.
It followed Rodriguez’s earlier No. 1 singles and became his third consecutive Billboard country chart-topper. That sequence confirmed that his breakthrough was not based on a single successful record.
Rodriguez’s Mexican-American background and occasional use of Spanish also gave him a distinctive identity in mainstream Nashville country music. His success helped make him one of the most prominent Latino country performers of his era.
“That’s the Way Love Goes” therefore served as both a commercial milestone and confirmation that Rodriguez had become an established country star rather than a temporary newcomer.
Why “That’s the Way Love Goes” Still Matters
The song has an unusual legacy because two major country singers took it to No. 1 a decade apart.
Johnny Rodriguez gave the composition its first chart-topping interpretation in the 1970s. Merle Haggard repeated the achievement in the 1980s and later won a Grammy for his version.
For Rodriguez, however, the song belongs to the remarkable opening chapter of his career. It was his third consecutive No. 1 and helped cement his position in mainstream country music.
More than fifty years later, his recording remains an elegant example of early-1970s Nashville country: concise, melodic and emotionally restrained.
Watch and Listen
Johnny Rodriguez – That’s the Way Love Goes (Official Audio / Universal Music Group)
Sources
Johnny Rodriguez Official Artist Channel / Universal Music Group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUKEEu1Mw4E
Billboard chart history as compiled in Joel Whitburn, Hot Country Songs 1944–2008.
American Songwriter — history of “That’s the Way Love Goes”
https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1984-merle-haggard-became-the-second-star-to-take-this-lefty-frizzell-penned-classic-to-the-top-of-the-country-chart/
Historical discography and chart summary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That%27s_the_Way_Love_Goes_%28Johnny_Rodriguez_song%29
The Heartbreak Ballad That Helped Make Ricky Van Shelton a Country Star
“Somebody Lied”: The Heartbreak Ballad That Helped Make Ricky Van Shelton a Country Star
Traditional Country | Neo-Traditional Country | 1987 | Song Story
In 1987, country music was rediscovering the power of traditional voices.
Among the artists leading that movement was Ricky Van Shelton, a Virginia-born singer whose deep, clean country delivery sounded connected to an earlier Nashville era.
Then came “Somebody Lied.”
A song about a man pretending he has recovered from a breakup — until his former lover hears otherwise — it became Shelton’s first No. 1 country hit and helped turn a promising newcomer into one of Nashville’s fastest-rising stars.
“Somebody Lied” is performed by Ricky Van Shelton.
The song was written by Joe Chambers and Larry Jenkins and appeared on Shelton’s debut Columbia album, Wild-Eyed Dream.
That album introduced Shelton as part of the neo-traditional country movement of the late 1980s, when singers with stronger ties to honky-tonk and classic-country traditions were finding a new mainstream audience.
“Somebody Lied” proved that Shelton had both the voice and the material to compete at the highest level.
Listen to “Somebody Lied”
