Harper Valley PTA
| "Harper Valley PTA" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jeannie C. Riley | ||||
| from the album Harper Valley PTA | ||||
| Released | 1968 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:16 | |||
| Label | Plantation | |||
| Writer(s) | Tom T. Hall | |||
| Producer | Shelby Singleton | |||
| Jeannie C. Riley singles chronology | ||||
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"Harper Valley PTA" is a country song written by Tom T. Hall that was a major international hit single for country singer Jeannie C. Riley in 1968. Riley's record sold over six million copies as a single. The song made Riley the first woman to top both Billboard's Hot 100 and the U.S. country single's charts with the same song, a feat that would go unrepeated until Dolly Parton's "9 to 5 " in 1981.
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[edit] The song's story
The song tells the story of Mrs. Johnson, a widowed mother of a teenage girl, who becomes outraged when one afternoon her daughter brings home a note from her school's PTA decrying Mrs. Johnson's supposedly scandalous behavior by small-town standards, which, according to the PTA, is setting a bad example for her daughter. In retaliation, Mrs. Johnson decides to attend the next PTA meeting (which, coincidentally, was being held that very evening), where she exposes various episodes of misbehavior on the part of several members of the PTA establishment, concluding with, "This is just a little Peyton Place / And you're all Harper Valley hypocrites." In the final line of the song the narrator reveals herself as Mrs. Johnson's daughter, with the memorable line: "The day my mama socked it to the Harper Valley PTA", referring to the popular phrase of that period "sock it to me" from television's Laugh in. According to Riley's autobiography, this line was ad libbed at the recording session at the suggestion of someone at the session.
[edit] Legacy
Tom T. Hall reportedly first offered the song to Skeeter Davis who declined. Riley's record label Plantation Records rush released the single when they learned both Billie Jo Spears and Margie Singleton had just recorded the song as well. Riley's record was an immediate smash; Capitol Records did release Spears' version the same week but it failed to chart.
Hall later stated his inspiration for the song was passing by the Harpeth Valley Elementary School in Bellevue, Tennessee, not far from his then-home in Franklin. He liked the sound of the name and decided to write a song using a similar place name. He also reportedly wrote the song about Olive Hill, Kentucky where Hall grew up.
The song was later the inspiration for a 1978 motion picture and a short-lived 1981 television series, both starring Barbara Eden, playing the heroine of the song Mrs. Johnson, now given a first name, Stella.
Several other songs in the Harper Valley PTA album also told stories of some of the other characters from "Harper Valley PTA", including Mayor Harper, Widow Jones, and Shirley Thompson.
The classic Harper Valley PTA album cover shows a minidress-clad Riley—portraying Mrs. Johnson with PTA note in hand—standing beside a girl, who is obviously portraying the teenage daughter of Mrs. Johnson.
Jeannie C. Riley's recording of the song won her a Grammy for the Best Country Vocal Performance, Female. Her recording was also nominated for "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" in the pop field.
In the 1970s, Riley became a born-again Christian, and started to sing gospel music and briefly distanced herself from the song. However, she never dropped the song from her concerts and it was always her most requested and popular number.
Riley titled her 1980 autobiography From Harper Valley to the Mountain Top, and released a gospel album in 1981 with the same title. A sequel song "Return To Harper Valley", was recorded by Riley in 1984 but was not a commercial success.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.K. Singles Chart | 12 |
[edit] Cover versions
- Cover versions of the song appear on albums by virtually every female country singer of the period including Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Norma Jean, Bobbi Martin, Lynn Anderson, Jeannie Seely, and Dottie West. It has been performed by Lorrie Morgan in concert and was also covered by Billy Ray Cyrus.
- Stikkan Andersson wrote the Swedish lyrics. Entitled "Fröken Fredriksson", it was Björn Ulvaeus' second solo single (Polar POS 162)
- "Harper Valley PTA" was translated into Norwegian by Terje Mosnes and performed by Norwegian singer Inger Lise Rypdal. The story of the song is the same although the setting is more Norwegian; the PTA is replaced by the Board for High Morale and is part of the church.
- Country singer Martina McBride covered it for the Desperate Housewives soundtrack.
- Radio personality Fez Whatley is often heard singing his own cover version on the Ron and Fez show, a version he used to sing for his family as a child.
- Sheb Wooley, in his alter-ego of "Ben Colder", produced and recorded a parody of the song, called "Harper Valley P.T.A. (Later The Same Day)".
[edit] See also
| Preceded by "People Got to Be Free" by The Rascals |
US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single September 21, 1968 |
Succeeded by "Hey Jude" by The Beatles |
| Preceded by "Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard and The Strangers |
US Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single September 28–October 12, 1968 |
Succeeded by "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" by Eddy Arnold |
| Preceded by "1, 2, 3, Red Light" by 1910 Fruitgum Company |
Canadian RPM 100 number-one single September 23, 1968 |
Succeeded by "Hey Jude" by The Beatles |
| Preceded by "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" by Glen Campbell |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks number-one single September 16-September 23, 1968 |
Succeeded by "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" by Waylon Jennings |
