Search - Little Eva :: B.O. Little Eva

The Original Pop "Cinderella"

Rupert Burton | Greensboro, North Carolina United States | 09/16/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There have been a few artists who, armed only with the natural gift of voice, have enjoyed brief but phenomenal success in the music industry. Their success ended up being hampered by either their lack of knowledge as it pertains to the business end of the industry, rapidly changing music trends, or the sometimes unfair treatment by the recording industry executives themselves (i.e. paying an artist "scale" only to see the finished product go on to make millions). "Big Mama" Thorton was such an artist; so was "Little" Eva.



By now, most of us know the "babysitter-for-Carole-King-with-a-marketable-voice" story (for those of you who don't, check the liner notes)--what bothers me most about Eva's story is that Dimension, her label, made a ton of money from "Loco-motion", while Eva netted peanuts by comparison. Moreover, as evidenced from listening to the CD, there are several tracks that Eva recorded that had enormous potential.



Overall, the audio quality of the CD is exceptional--whoever preserved these musical gems deserves praise. It's just a shame that Eva Boyd made songwriters and a record company a huge sum of money while she now ( as of 1991 ) works as a kitchen cook in her hometown of Bellhaven, North Carolina.



Other tracks NOT on this disc are available via import, but this CD is a good intro to the life and times of "Little" Eva."

More than just the Locomotion

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 03/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although she had other hits too, Little Eva will forever be remembered for Locomotion, which provided a huge hit for her in the early sixties. It was revived by Grand funk railroad in the seventies and again by the brilliant Australian singer, Kylie Minogue, in the eighties.



Keep your hands off my baby, the follow-up to Locomotion, was a top twenty hit in America, just making the top thirty in Britain, while her third hit, Let's turkey trot, was a top twenty hit on both sides of the Atlantic.



Her next hit was a duet with Big Dee Irwin, although Little Eva was not credited. The song, Swinging on a star, was originally a number one American hit for Bing Crosby, but the sixties version is very different. I enjoy both versions in different ways. It provided them with a top ten British hit, but barely made the American top forty.



That marked the effective end of Little Eva's chart career, though there were to be a couple of minor hits in America.



This compilation contains all the essential Little Eva tracks, though a complete collection of her Dimension recordings (which conveniently filled a CD) used to be available."

All There Is to Have

Eclectic Revisited | Arizona | 11/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I remember the feeling "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" gave me when I first heard it; wouldn't you like YOUR girl to show that much passion for you? Little Eva was just a teenager when she hit the big time with the "LocoMotion" song. Everybody was looking to create a new dance craze like the "twist" and many would. Little Eva didn't last that long because the Beatles and the like were just around the corner (plus turmoil, cynicism about everything including romance, etc). Little Eva is no longer with us but this CD contains all you need to hear from that most impressive woman."