New Seniors

“Harper Valley PTA” singer joins the New Seniors class of 2010 on October 19th. Relive the moment with a video of her live performance at the Grand Ole Opry. What Billboard chart first did she achieve?

Jeannie C. Riley, born Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson, is best known for her 1968 country and pop hit “Harper Valley PTA” (written by Tom T. Hall). She became the first woman to have a single become a Billboard Country and Pop number one hit at the same time.

The song is about a widowed woman by the name of Mrs. Johnson, who confronts a group of members of the PTA after her daughter brings home a note from school that’s critical of her (Mrs. Johnson’s) habits of wearing a mini-skirt, going out with men, and other behavior they do not approve of. The climax of the song comes when Mrs. Johnson turns the tables on the PTA and exposes their hypocrisy, one member at a time. Riley and the song became a much overnight sensation, and the song earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Country Music Association ‘Single of the Year’ award. She had moderate success with country music, but never duplicated the success of “Harper Valley PTA”.

The song became a phenomenon and led to Riley making country music history in 1969 as the first female vocalist to have her own major network variety special “Harper Valley U.S.A., which she hosted along with Jerry Reed, and in 1978 a film and the 1981 Harper Valley PTA television show.

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