"Harper Valley PTA" is a country music song written by Tom
T. Hall. It was a major hit single for country singer Jeannie
C. Riley in 1968, and crossed over to the pop charts as well,
eventually selling over six million copies as a single, making
Riley the first woman ever to top the U.S. pop and country
singles charts with the same song. (Her accomplishment would
not be repeated until 1981, when Dolly Parton topped the
country and pop singles charts with "9 to 5".)
The song tells the story of a junior high student who is
sent home with a note to her widowed single mother from the
Parent-Teacher Association (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. 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 1981 television series, both starring Barbara Eden,
playing the heroine of the song, Stella Johnson.
Other songs on the album tell more about some of the people
who are members of the Harper Valley P.T.A., including Mayor
Harper and Widow Jones.
Jeannie C. Riley's recording of the song won her a Grammy
for the Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.