Harper Valley PTA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Harper Valley PTA" is a country music song written by Tom T. Hall. It was a major hit single for country songstress Jeannie C. Riley in 1968, and crossed over to the pop charts as well, eventually selling over six million copies as a single.

The song tells the story of a junior high student who is sent home with a note to her single mother from the PTA of the school decrying her scandalous behavior by small-town standards. The mother decides to speak to a meeting of the PTA where she addresses various episodes of misbehavior on the part of several of its members, concluding, "This is just a little Peyton Place / And you're all Harper Valley hypocrites."

In an interview, Hall admitted 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.

The song was later the inspiration for a 1978 motion picture and a 1981 television series, both starring Barbara Eden, playing the heroine of the song, Stella Johnson.

[edit] Trivia

Riley's recording became the first song by a female country artist to top both the U.S. pop and country charts. Her accomplishment would not be repeated until 1981 when Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" (which was also associated with a film and a television series), reached number one on the country and pop charts. (Parton would also cover "Harper Valley" in 1969.)
"Harper Valley PTA" set a record for the biggest one-week upward movement on the Billboard Hot 100, jumping from number eighty-one to number seven on the week ending August 31 1968 (seventy-four positions). This record held until 1999.
Cover versions of the song appear on albums by virtually every female country singer of the period including Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Lynn Anderson, Norma Jean, Billie Jo Spears, and Dottie West.
Country Music singer Margie Singleton is the original singer to record "Harper Valley PTA".
"Harper Valley PTA" was translated into Norwegian 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.
"Harper Valley PTA" is rated #95 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders.

Preceded by "People Got to Be Free" by The Rascals	Billboard Hot 100 number one single September 21, 1968	Succeeded by "Hey Jude" by The Beatles