By Stephanie Caplan
“C’mon, baby, do the locomotion.”
Most of us can’t read these words without hearing the chart-topping song “The Loco-Motion.” You probably know the song, but you might not know that the 16-year-old singer who made it famous was from Belhaven, Beaufort County.
Little Eva (born Eva Narcissus Boyd) hit No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “The Loco-Motion” in August of 1962.
Eleven years ago this month, she was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame for that feat.
“Little Eva was someone who never gave up on her dreams,” said Pat Saunders, branch manager of the Belhaven Public Library. “She made a lasting impression on the Town of Belhaven with her hit song, and she moved the hearts of a lot of people.”
Hers is a story of a quick rise to fame, minus the fortune.
Eva moved from Belhaven to New York City at a young age. While trying to break into the music business, she worked as a nanny for then-married songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin.
In a music industry twist of fate, King and Goffin asked their babysitter to record a demo of their new dance-driven song, “The Loco-Motion,” which was intended for another artist. But Eva’s demo was so good, record label Dimension decided to release it as a single, according to the NC Music Educators Association, and the song rose to No. 1.
“The Loco-Motion” demo catapulted the Belhaven unknown to stardom, although she never made meaningful money on the recording or subsequent performances.
Her reward for her success, recounted in several national news and music outlets, was a weekly salary of $50, an increase from her babysitting salary of $35 per week.
The “The Loco-Motion” had staying power. Twice, the song was the U.S. No.1 single, and once it hit No. 3 over the span of three decades, performed by three different artists/groups. Little Eva was first at No.1 in 1962; Grand Funk Railroad followed at No. 1 with its version in 1974; and Australian artist Kylie Minogue took “The Loco-Motion” to No. 3 in 1988.
Little Eva recorded a handful of other songs in the 1960s, including “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby” and “Let’s Turkey Trot.”
None matched the success of “The Loco-Motion.” Eva returned to a quiet life in Eastern North Carolina in 1971 without fortune. Toward the end of her life, she was making ends meet working in a restaurant in Kinston.
Eva died from cervical cancer in 2003 at the age of 59 and was laid to rest in her hometown. Initially her grave was marked with a simple white cross, and in 2008, that was replaced by a gravestone celebrating her stardom.
Her tombstone is an impressive gray stone etched with a charging locomotive and the words, “Singing with the Angels.”
You can visit Little Eva’s gravestone in Black Bottom Memorial Cemetery in Belhaven. The historically Black community cemetery is located along Old County Road and Pine Street at the northern edge of downtown.
“The Loco-Motion” is ranked No. 359 on Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
In 2016, the 1962 Little Eva version of “The Loco-Motion” on Dimension Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
To listen to the song, click here
Stephanie Caplan is a freelance write in the Belhaven-Bath area.
Nice article! Thanks. The good old days and music!
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