This Dusty Springfield Hit From 1968 Was Actually Written for Aretha Franklin Instead

Ask anyone to name a Dusty Springfield song, and most people will likely say “Son Of A Preacher Man”. Out in 1968 on her Dusty In Memphis record, “Son Of A Preacher Man” was written by  John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins.

The chorus of “Son Of A Preacher Man” says, “The only one who could ever reach me / Was the son of a preacher man / The only boy who could ever teach me / Was the son of a preacher man.”

Although it remains Springfield’s signature song, Hurley and Wilkins didn’t write it with Springfield in mind. Instead, the two wrote “Son Of A Preacher Man” thinking of it for Aretha Franklin instead.

“I was playing organ on an Aretha Franklin session,” Wilkins recalls to American Songwriter. “We were in the control room when [producer John Wexler] asked me and John, ‘Why don’t you guys write a song for Aretha?’”

How Dusty Springfield Manager to Record “Son Of A Preacher Man” Instead of Aretha Franklin

“Son Of A Preacher Man” seems like a likely choice for Franklin, since she is the daughter of a preacher. 

“A few days went by, and John and I were in our writing room and were trying to come up with something,” Wilkins remembers. “We were thinking of Aretha. Her father was a preacher, and both of my grandfathers were preachers. I said, ‘She’s the daughter of a preacher man, and you might say I’m the son of a preacher man.’ And that’s how we came up with the title. It took us half an hour, maybe 45 minutes, to write the song.”

In fact, Wexler, who produced Dusty In Memphis, took Franklin into the studio to record the song. Unfortunately for Franklin, but fortunately for Springfield, it didn’t fit Franklin’s album at the time.

Perhaps Franklin later regretted not keeping “Son Of A Preacher Man” for herself when she was given the opportunity. In 1970, Franklin released her This Girl’s In Love With You album. The first track on the record is “Son Of A Preacher Man”.

Although she had other moderately successful songs after “Son Of A Preacher Man”, this is Springfield’s final Top 10 single. Springfield also earned her second of two Grammy nominations for this song. “Son Of A Preacher Man” is her only hit from Dusty In Memphis.

In 1994, “Son Of A Preacher Man” gained an entirely new fanbase when it was used in the blockbuster film Pulp Fiction.

Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images