Eva Narcissus Boyd was working as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin when they asked her to record a song they had written called The Loco-Motion in 1962. The song was a hit for ‘Little Eva’ that year and again for Grand Funk Railroad in 1974 (and later still for Kylie Minogue).
Boyd took the name ‘Little Eva’ from a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Boyd had other minor hits including Keep Your Hands Off My Baby in 1962 and Old Smokey Loco-Motion in 1963. She also sang background for The Drifters, Ben E. King and others.
Let’s Turkey Trot (1963) was written by Goffin and King despite having been compared to the melody of The Cleftones 1956 recording of Little Girl Of Mine. The track was later featured in the movie, Easy Rider (1969) but was omitted from the soundtrack album presumably because the record label was refused clearance.
Eva died in April 2003 at Lenoir Memorial Hospital in Kinston, North Carolina, after a long battle with cervical cancer. She was 59.
