Single:
Harper Valley PTA entered the Australian singles chart* on 7 September 1968 and was a #1 hit. It was #13 on the Top 100 of 1968.
Album:
The song is on Jeannie’s 1968 album Harper Valley P.T.A.
Songwriter:
Tom T. Hall
Producer:
Shelby Singleton
Record label of Australian release:
Festival
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Jeannie C. Riley at the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium Nashville, 1969:
Songfacts:
The country singer Margie Singleton asked Tom T. Hall to write her a song similar to Ode To Billie Joe, which she had covered the previous year. After driving past a school called ‘Harpeth Valley Elementary School’ in Bellevue, Tennessee, he noted the name and wrote Harper Valley PTA about a fictional confrontation between a young widow Stella Johnson and a local PTA group who objected to her manner of dress, social drinking, and friendliness with town’s men folk. Jeannie C. Riley, who was working as a secretary in Nashville, got to hear the song and recorded it herself and it became a massive hit.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/jeannie-c-riley/harper-valley-pta
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 PTA”.
Click for full lyrics
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