Rear-View Mirror: 'Son of a Preacher Man,' the song nobody wanted

Every week, Rich Terfry looks back in our Rear-view Mirror at a great song from the good ol’ days. This week, Dusty Springfield and "Son of a Preacher Man."

"Son Of A Preacher Man" is a song that is now considered a classic. But when it was first written, no one wanted it!

The song was written by the Nashville songwriting team of John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. It took them 30 minutes. They wrote the song especially for Aretha Franklin, but she turned it down. The offspring of a preacher herself, she thought the song was disrespectful.

One story goes that after Aretha passed on it, the songwriters brought it to Marilee Rush, who had a huge hit in 1968 with "Angel Of The Morning." But she was dealing with professional and marital problems at the time and had to pass on it, too.

The song finally ended up in the lap of British soul singer Dusty Springfield who had come to Memphis to record. The song became a hit for Springfield and is now regarded as a classic. Only after hearing the song played on the radio did Aretha Franklin finally realize how great the song was. She immediately had a change of heart and decided to record the song after all. It appeared on her 1970 album, The Girl's In Love With You.

In the years that followed, the song was covered by Elvis, Tina Turner, Bobby Gentry, Dolly Parton, Jan Arden and countless others.

But the song will forever be associated with Dusty Springfield.

Here's the definitive version, "Son Of A Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield.

Listen to the entire audio version of Rear-View Mirror by hitting the play button below.

here

Here are some other great editions of Rear-view Mirror:

Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put A Spell On You"

Cheap Trick "Surrender"

Mott The Hoople "All the Young Dudes"

Beach Boys "Sloop John B"

Amy Winehouse "Rehab"

New York Dolls "Personality Crisis"

Modern Lovers "Roadrunner"

George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA"

The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Rolling Stones 'Miss You'

The Coasters 'Run Red Run'

Elvis Costello, 'Alison'

James Brown, 'Hot (I Need to be loved loved loved)'

Inner Circle, 'Tenement Yard'

Ray Charles, 'I Don't Need No Doctor'

Curtis Mayfield, 'Freddy's Dead'

Gang Starr, 'Beyond Comprehension'

Bo Diddley, 'Bo Diddley'

Aretha Franklin, 'Rocksteady'

CCR, 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain'

Howlin' Wolf, 'Smokestack Lightning'

Bobby Womack, 'Across 110th Street'

Roy Orbison, 'In Dreams'

Foggy Hogtown Boys, 'Man of Constant Sorrow'

Pink Floyd, 'Wish You Were Here'

Neil Young, 'Cortez The Killer'

Bob Dylan, 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'

Little Eva, 'Loco-Motion'

Elvis Costello, 'Watching the Detectives'

Jimmy Cliff, 'The Harder They Come'

The Verve, 'Bittersweet Symphony'

Roberta Flack, 'Killing Me Softly with his Song'

R.E.M., 'Radio Free Europe'

Radiohead, 'No Surprises'

Led Zeppelin, 'Ramble On'

Glen Campbell, 'Wichita Lineman'

Rolling Stones, 'Beast of Burden'

John Cougar Mellencamp, 'Pink Houses'