Jeannie C. Riley
in her bus, Westport, Massachusetts, 1976

Riley had a huge hit with her very first effort, "Harper Valley P.T.A.," a Tom T. Hall–penned tune about a young woman living with small-town hypocrisy. The song won the Country Music Award for Single of the Year in 1968. She also was one of the first female country singers to wear miniskirts and go-go boots. Riley's second effort was also top-ten—"The Girl Most Likely"—and she seemed to be on a roll. But soon the hits stopped coming and she renounced her past efforts, moving on to the field of Christian music, a career path many country singers take when their secular career heads south.