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
| (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
Well, the only one who could ever reach me, was the son of a preacher man.
The only one who could ever teach me, was the son of a preacher man.
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.
Son Of A Preacher Man Chords: Learn the progressions
The verse chords move from I to IV and then back again. The use of the 6 over the E chord, hints at the 3rd of the A, like this:
| E (I) E6 | A (IV) E E6 |
| E E6 | B (V) B6 |
| B7 B6 | B7 B6 | B7 |
For the first verse, we play four bars of B, but in verse two, we only play three.
Son Of A Preacher Man’s chorus chords are the same as the verse, but end differently, like this:
||: E (I) E6 | A (IV) E E6 :||
| E B (V) | A A6 |
The re–intro is similar to the intro, but not identical as it only has two bars, not four. You do need TAB to get it right, then the chords to remind you, like this:
| (Em) E | E Esus4 E |
In the course, we use play–along TAB loops to practise this and all other sections.
After the re–intro, we play a verse and chorus again before we find a middle 8 in the new key of A. We start on chord IV, like this:
| D (Db) | D (Ab) | A A6 A (Ab) | A A6 A (Bb) |
| B B7 B6 (Bb) | B B7 B6 (Eb) |
| E (Eb) | E E7 |
The D chord is IV, A is I, B is IIx and E is V.
This brings us to a chorus in the new key, like this:
||: A (I) A7 A6 A | D (IV) A A6 :||
| A E (V) | D D6 |
Lastly, the outro is just the chorus without the turnaround. Here’s a chord chart I made for you.
Son Of A Preacher Man Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
I feel so smug about how my chord chart turned out. The intro is different from the re–intro. The B7 has a different amount of bars when it appears the second time, and there’s a key change for the middle 8.
To get all that in a chord chart without making it look extremely complicated took me a long time to achieve.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Son Of A Preacher Man Chord Chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: Son Of A Preacher Man iReal Pro.
You can change the key using this and the iRealPro app. However, in the case of Son Of A Preacher Man, I’ve never experienced this, it’s always in the original key, maybe it’s easy to sing!
Son Of A Preacher Man TAB | Course Preview
Since the original recording of 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.
Son Of A Preacher Man’s chord progression needs to have plenty of movement over each chord. Quick extensions appear as chord licks so you need the TAB for all this to make sense.
Apart from adding licks, another 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.
Above you can find a play–along TAB loop of the verse, here’s the TAB for this as an image.
In the course, you get two more examples like this for how to play Son Of A Preacher Man’s verse chords.
Next up, we do this to the chorus, intro, middle 8, and key change before I play the complete song, give you all the TAB, and then hand it over for you to play with the band in step 8.
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Son Of A Preacher Man – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Son Of A Preacher Man is Dusty Springfield’s signature song
Son Of A Preacher Man is a 1968 single by Dusty Springfield which would become her signature song.
It came as the last hit of her golden era in the ’60s when she released a hit every year between ’63-’68.
Starting with I Only Want to Be with You (1963), I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself (1964), In the Middle of Nowhere (1965), You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me (1966), and culminating with The Look of Love (1967).
Once Son Of A Preacher Man was re-released in 1994 for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, it became firmly cemented into most hard-working Soul bands’ setlists.
A word of warning to wedding bands that form in the car park – this one can feel a bit slow and if some members of the band haven’t done their homework, it can get a bit wobbly with the structure.
My biggest pet hate is when bands play Son Of A Preacher Man too fast, it sounds terrible.
However, if you do look into it properly, create a solid part, and play with confidence, Son Of A Preacher Man is a guaranteed success that sits perfectly in the first set alongside, for example, Let’s Stay Together and My Girl.
Son Of A Preacher Man Chords | Related Pages
Son Of A Preacher Man | 8 Step-by-step Guitar Lessons + TAB
Since Son Of A Preacher Man doesn’t have any guitar to copy, we must invent our parts by listening to what the other instruments play.
I’ll give you several ideas so you can create your parts for when you play with the live band in step 8.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Can’t Take My Eyes Off You chords by Franki Valli
- I Say A Little Prayer chords by Aretha Franklin
- Lovely Day chords by Bill Withers
- Spooky chords by Dusty Springfield
- Take Me To The River chords by Al Green
Dusty Springfield tunes
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
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Son Of A Preacher Man chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
