“Son of a Preacher Man” (Dusty Springfield)

We’re looking at Dusty Springfield’s legendary Dusty in Memphis all week this week, and now we come to the one hit single from the album. “Son of a Preacher Man” was the third track on side one; released as a single in November of 1968, it peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 early the next year.

“Son of a Preacher Man” was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins with Aretha Franklin in mind. Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records heard it, however, and intercepted it for Dusty in Memphis, which he was currently producing. (Aretha subsequently heard it and recorded it a year later; Dusty always said she liked Aretha’s phrasing better than her own.)

That “Son of a Preacher Man” was a big hit is hardly surprising. The tune is a good one, the Memphis Boys provided pleasantly swampy instrumental tracks, and the Sweet Inspirations gave their typical soulful backing vocals. Dusty’s breathy, bluesy vocals were perfect for the down-home lyrics, practically defining the term “blue-eyed soul.” Listening to Dusty on this track you’d have no idea she was a blue-eyed white lady from England; you’d swear she was Memphis born and raised.

(By the way, listen to drummer Gene Chrisman’s funky ride cymbal on the final chorus. He plays a really fun syncopated, not quite swung/not quite straight pattern on the bell of his ride, something I’ve copied often over the years when I’m playing something particularly swampy. It really kicks things into another gear.)

“Son of Preacher Man” regularly rates among the best singles ever recorded. It placed in Rolling Stone magazine’s “The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years” and “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” and ranked as the number 43 “Greatest Single of All Time” by New Musical Express. It was also featured in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 movie, Pulp Fiction, which won it some new listeners.

As a bonus, here’s Dusty singing “Son of a Preacher Man” live, about ten years later in a 1979 performance at the Royal Albert Hall. She is smokin’ in this one, just having fun and cooking something fierce. The lady could sing!