B-side Just a Little Lovin' Format 7" Length 2:29 | Released November 8, 1968 | |
Recorded American Studios, Memphis, Tennessee: September 1968 | ||
"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield in September 1968 and featured on the album Dusty in Memphis. It was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins.
Contents
Springfield's version was produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin for her first album for the Atlantic Records label and became an international hit reaching No.10 in the United States and No.9 in her native UK when released in late 1968. The album Dusty in Memphis was released in stereo though its singles were remixed and released in mono. "Son of a Preacher Man" was to be the last Top Ten chart hit for the artist for almost 20 years until she teamed up with Pet Shop Boys for the single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in 1987.
The song was originally offered to American Aretha Franklin, who turned it down. However, it was recorded by Aretha's elder sister Erma Franklin and was included on her 1969 Brunswick album Soul Sister. It was only upon hearing Springfield's version that Aretha Franklin reconsidered and recorded the song herself including it on her 1970 album, This Girl's in Love with You. Her version charted only as a less popular a-side of the b-side hit single "Call Me".
Legacy
The writers of Rolling Stone magazine placed the release at No.77 among The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years in 1987. The record was placed at No.43 of the Greatest Singles of All Time by the writers of New Musical Express in 2002. In 2004, the song made the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at No.240.
In 1994 the song was featured in a scene of the film Pulp Fiction. The film's soundtrack reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200 went platinum (100,000 units) in Canada alone. "Son of a Preacher Man" helped to sell over two million units of the album and to help it reach number six on the charts according to SoundScan. Quentin Tarantino has been quoted on the "Collectors Edition" DVD of Pulp Fiction as saying that he probably would not have filmed the scene in which the song is featured had he not been able to use it.
The song is also featured in the film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, during scenes depicting Kenneth Lay, ex-Enron CEO and son of a Baptist minister, and on an episode of Hindsight. In the 2008 television episode of the American series The Office entitled "Baby Shower", Jan Levinson, played by Melora Hardin, is filmed singing "Son of a Preacher Man" as a lullaby to her newborn daughter Astrid. Later in the episode Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) describes the bizarre scene to his fiance Pam Beesley (Jenna Fischer) noting the song is about "losing your virginity next to a church".
Samples from "Son of a Preacher Man" were used on Cypress Hill's "Hits from the Bong" on their album Black Sunday.
Melissa Manchester has paid tribute to Dusty Springfield by performing the song live in recent years.
The song is also featured in the 2016 video game Mafia III.