Son Of A Preacher Man | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| N.C (Em) | E | Esus4 E (Em) | E | Esus4 E |
Verse 1
| E E6 | A E E6 |
Billy-Ray was a preacher’s son and when his daddy would visit he’d come along.
| E E6 | B B6 |
When they gathered around and started talkin’, that’s when Billy would take me walkin’,
| B7 B6 | B7 B6 | B7 |
out through the back yard, we’d go walkin’, then he’d look into my eyes, Lord knows to my surprise.
Chorus 1
| E E6 | A E E6 |
Well, the only one who could ever reach me, was the son of a preacher man.
| E E6 | A E E6 |
The only one who could ever teach me, was the son of a preacher man.
| E B | A A6 |
Yes, he was, yes he was, oh, yes he was.
Instrumental
| E Em E | E Esus4 E |
Verse 2
| E | A E E6 |
Bein’ good isn’t always easy, no matter how hard I try (oh-oh).
| E E6 | B B6 |
When he started sweet-talkin’ to me, he’d come and tell me “Everything is all right” (oh-oh).
| B7 B6 | B7 |
He’d kiss and tell me “Everything is all right” (oh-oh), can I get away again tonight?
Chorus 2
| E E6 | A E E6 |
Well, the only one who could ever reach me, was the son of a preacher man.
| E E6 | A E E6 |
The only one who could ever teach me, was the son of a preacher man.
| E B | A A6 |
Yes, he was, yes he was, oh, yes he was.
Middle 8
| D (Db) | D (Ab) | A A6 A (Ab) | A A6 A (Bb) |
How well I remember, the look that was in his eyes, stealin’ kisses from me on the sly.
| B B7 B6 (Bb) | B B7 B6 (Eb) |
Takin’ time to make time, tellin’ me that he’s all mine.
| E (Eb) | E E7 |
Learnin’ from each other’s knowin’, lookin’ to see how much we’ve grown and.
Chorus 3
| A A7 A6 A | D A A6 |
The only one boy could ever reach me, was a son of a preacher man.
| A A7 A6 A | D A A6 |
The only one who could ever teach me, was a son of a preacher man.
| A E | D D6 |
Yes he was, he was, ooh yes he was.
Outro
||: A A6 A | D A A6 :|| repeat to fade
(The only one who could ever reach me, was a son of a preacher man) Was son of a preacher man.
(The only boy who could ever teach me, was a son of a preacher man) Oh it was, was a son of a preacher man.
(The only one who could ever woo me, was a son of a preacher man) Oh, yeah, was son of a preacher man.
(The only one who could ever woo me, was a son of a preacher man) Ah he was the son of a preacher man.
(The only one who could ever reach me, was a son of a preacher man). Oh yes he was now, oh he was yeah.
You can learn how to play Son Of A Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield!
Son Of A Preacher Man is a 1968 single by Dusty Springfield. Re-released in 1994 for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, it has been firmly cemented onto most soul bands’ setlists.
The chord progression you find above has plenty of movement over each chord. Quick extensions appear as chord licks. You need the full TAB for all this to make sense (available below for the verse).
A very important part of playing this song is to use different chord shapes. This is the opposite concept of playing rock guitar – you don’t have a set part, instead, you improvise your rhythm parts!
Embrace these two ideas (chord extensions as licks and varying the chord shapes) and Son Of A Preacher Man becomes an excellent study in how to move around the fretboard as you create rhythm guitar parts.
Son Of A Preacher Man’s verse chords and TAB
Son Of A Preacher Man’s verse chords move from chord I to chord IV and then back again. The use of the 6 over the E chord, hints at the 3rd of the A.
The B chord (chord V) could be a B7. During the first verse, we play 4 bars of B, but in verse two, we only play three.
Here’s the first TAB example. First, learn it as written, once this is achieved, don’t be afraid to apply variations to it.
I do find it difficult to fret the first chord as this is a C shape. My natural instinct is to fret it like a D shape.
Should this be the case for you too, simply do that, then move to the A chord. When you go back, now fret it as a C shape.
Should you add more muted strums than just one, that’s OK, aim to sit in the groove with the band, that’s the most important aspect.
The B, or B7 in this example climbs from a G shape to an E shape, to a D shape. All are B7, apart from the first one.
Here’s the next verse example in TAB.
To me, this is a better way to play the verse than example 1. In my opinion, the part sounds better using strings 2-4, rather than 1-3.
For the B7, which is still over four bars, we use these shapes.
- G shape, with a 6
- E7 shape, with a 6
- E7 shape (higher), with a 6
- D7 shape
Experiment with sliding into all shapes as well as none of them. Maybe you could even find a way to hammer-on, instead of sliding.
Son Of A Preacher Man’s 8 guitar lessons in the course
Since Son Of A Preacher Man doesn’t have any guitar to copy, we must invent our parts. This makes it a great song to learn more about music in general and guitar in particular.
By working our way through the chords in all areas of the fretboard, what to play will soon become obvious. Best of all, once you get good at this, you can do it to any tune in this genre.
In total, there are 8 step-by-step lessons for Son Of A Preacher Man available. Here are links to each lesson in the course (members only):
- Step 1 – Bars & Beats
- Step 2 – Verse
- Step 3 – Chorus
- Step 4 – Intro & Instrumental
- Step 5 – 1st half
- Step 6 – M8
- Step 7 – The complete song with TAB
- Step 8 – Live band backing track
Son Of A Preacher Man chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Can’t Take My Eyes Off You chords
- I Say A Little Prayer chords
- Lovely Day chords
- Spooky chords
- Take Me To The River chords
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield is the 60s and 70s singer from London U.K who was a big part of bringing American R&B and soul to the U.K
Her most famous songs include Son Of A Preacher Man, Spooky, You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, and I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself.
Dusty Springfield on the web
Motown & Soul
Learn all these Motown/Soul songs and you will have gained yourself a repertoire so you can jam or even join a working band.
Study these songs in-depth and you will map out the fretboard, master the CAGED system, and learn how to design a rhythm guitar part that works in a band.
