Why Jeannie C. Riley Distanced Herself From ‘Harper Valley PTA’
TL;DR:
- Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA” was inspired by Bobby Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe.”
- The song was also inspired by some classic books.
- Riley distanced herself from the track.
One of the most famous country songs from the 1960s is Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA.” Even though it was a hit, Riley eventually distanced herself from it. She discussed the way audiences treated her when she performed the song.
How Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ inspired Jeannie C. Riley’s ‘Harper Valley PTA’
“Harper Valley PTA” is the story of a mother named Mrs. Johnson who receives a complaint from her daughter’s parent–teacher association saying Mrs. Johnson wears her skirts too high. Subsequently, Mrs. Johnson goes to the PTA to tell them off. She tells some of the people there they are hypocritical for having their own vices.
According to Stereogum, country songwriter Tom T. Hall wanted it to sound like Bobbie Gentry’s hit single “Ode to Billie Joe.” He also drew from the novels of Upton Sinclair while writing the song. Sinclair often wrote about issues of hypocrisy in the United States.
Jeannie C. Riley was upset because she felt her fans were more interested in her miniskirts than her singing
Stereogum said Riley started distancing herself from the song because she became a born-again Christian. During a 2022 interview with Texas Monthly, she also said she was upset by the way fans responded to her sexual image. “For years, people wanted to undress me,” she said. “When I’d go onstage and my dress had grown to the floor, they’d scream out, ‘Where’s the miniskirt?’
“And I would think, ‘Are you not satisfied to hear me sing? Did you come to see my legs, or to hear me?,'” she said. “Finally people accepted the fact that I was just an old-fashioned girl who finally found herself back at home, in her own clothing,”
Riley discussed where the song fit into her discography. “It’s definitely my signature song — my sermon against hypocrisy,” she said. “But I have to think about that when I sing it.”
She said the song has a lesson for her. “Anytime I point my finger at somebody else, I’ve got three more pointed back at myself, and I don’t measure up,” she said. “So, I’ll just try to learn from my own song.”
‘Harper Valley PTA’ made history on the pop chart and the country chart in the United States
According to Billboard, “Harper Valley PTA” made music history. It became the first song by a woman to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. No one would equal the feat until Dolly Parton released “9 to 5.”
“Harper Valley PTA” is a classic feminist song even if Riley had issues with it.
