Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley PTA 1968 (Songs Of Tom T. Hall) - YouTube
Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley PTA 1968 (Songs Of Tom T. Hall)
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Published on May 17, 2014
"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.
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 junior high 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 response, Mrs. Johnson attends the next PTA meeting (being held that same afternoon), wearing a miniskirt, to the surprise of the PTA members. She then exposes various episodes of misbehavior and indiscretion on the part of several members of the PTA, concluding with, "This is just a little Peyton Place / And you're all Harper Valley hypocrites."
The song makes two references to short hemlines ("you've been wearing your dresses way too high;" "wore her miniskirt into the room") in reference to the miniskirt and the minidress, which had been gaining popularity in the four years since they were first introduced.
The expression, "This is just a little Peyton Place..." is a reference to the wildly popular television show based on the earlier novel and film of the same name wherein a small town hides scandal and moral hypocrisy behind a tranquil façade. The Top 20 Nielsen show was in its 4th season when "Harper Valley PTA" was released.
In the final line of the song the singer 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 the sketch comedy TV series Rowan & Martin'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.
Tom T. Hall reportedly first offered the song to Skeeter Davis, who declined. Plantation Records, the label on which Riley recorded the song, rush-released the single when they learned that 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 that his inspiration for the song came when one day he 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--who now had a first name, Stella.
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.
Lyrics:
I want to tell you all a story 'bout a Harper Valley widowed wife
Who had a teenage daughter who attended Harper Valley Junior High
Well her daughter came home one afternoon and didn't even stop to play
She said, "Mom, I got a note here from the Harper Valley P.T.A."
The note said, "Mrs. Johnson, you're wearing your dresses way too high
It's reported you've been drinking and a-runnin' 'round with men and going wild
And we don't believe you ought to be bringing up your little girl this way"
It was signed by the secretary, Harper Valley P.T.A.
Well, it happened that the P.T.A. was gonna meet that very afternoon
They were sure surprised when Mrs. Johnson wore her mini-skirt into the room
And as she walked up to the blackboard, I still recall the words she had to say
She said, "I'd like to address this meeting of the Harper Valley P.T.A."
Well, there's Bobby Taylor sittin' there and seven times he's asked me for a date
Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lot of ice whenever he's away
And Mr. Baker, can you tell us why your secretary had to leave this town?
And shouldn't widow Jones be told to keep her window shades all pulled completely down?
Well, Mr. Harper couldn't be here 'cause he stayed too long at Kelly's Bar again
And if you smell Shirley Thompson's breath, you'll find she's had a little nip of gin
Then you have the nerve to tell me you think that as a mother I'm not fit
Well, this is just a little Peyton Place and you're all Harper Valley hypocrites
No I wouldn't put you on because it really did, it happened just this way
The day my Mama socked it to the Harper Valley P.T.A.
The day my Mama socked it to the Harper Valley P.T.A.
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