Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

...That's the Way It Is

1976 studio album by Nilsson

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
The Essential Rock Discography4/10
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

...That's the Way It Is is the thirteenth album by American singer Harry Nilsson, released in 1976 on RCA Records. Aside from two original songs, the album consists of cover tunes.

The songs include "That Is All", written by George Harrison and originally released on Living in the Material World in 1973; America's "I Need You", from their eponymous 1971 album; Randy Newman's "Sail Away", from his 1972 album of the same name; and the Heartbeats' "A Thousand Miles Away". Harrison's song was recorded twice by Nilsson, to open and close the album.

Another cover version on ...That's the Way It Is, the calypso "Zombie Jamboree", had previously been recorded by Lord Intruder, Kingston Trio and Harry Belafonte, among others. Nilsson's medley of the Doris Troy hit "Just One Look" and Barbara Lewis' "Baby I'm Yours" was performed as a duet with singer Lynda Laurence. The latter, formerly of the Supremes, was the wife of Nilsson's producer, Trevor Lawrence.

01Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."That Is All"George Harrison3:02
2."Just One Look/Baby I'm Yours" (duet with Lynda Laurence)Gregory Carroll, Doris Payne/Van McCoy3:17
3."Moonshine Bandit"Harry Nilsson, Danny Kortchmar3:26
4."I Need You"Gerry Beckley3:14
5."A Thousand Miles Away"James Sheppard, William Miller2:50
6."Sail Away"Randy Newman3:40
7."She Sits Down on Me"Austin Talbot3:55
8."Daylight Has Caught Me"Nilsson, Malcolm Rebennack3:47
9."Zombie Jamboree (Back to Back)"Conrad E. Mauge, Jr.3:02
10."That Is All" (reprise)Harrison1:32

02Personnel

Credits per original album cover and Allmusic:

03Charts

Chart (1976) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 158
Watch videos about ...That's the Way It IsExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article ...That's the Way It Is, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.