Let's Turkey Trot is a popular song with writing credits to

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

and Jack Keller and/or

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

. It was released by

Little Eva Eva Narcissus Boyd (June 29, 1943 – April 10, 2003), better known by the stage name of Little Eva, was an American singer, well known for her 1962 hit "The Loco-Motion". Although some sources claim that her stage name was inspired by a charac ...

as her third single for the Dimension label. The Little Eva's recording debuted on the charts on February 2, 1963, and peaked at #20 on the Hot 100. It was her third top 40 record. The record features girl group

The Cookies ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on background vocals, with the Cookies' lead Earl-Jean McCrea getting some solo lines. The song's title is a reference to the turkey trot dance step, a step that was only briefly popular fifty years before the song was released; the song is played at a tempo much slower than the one used for the dance in its heyday. The B-side of the original single is a Goffin-King song called "Down Home" that is also found on the 1962 ''Llllloco-Motion'' LP. In the film

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

, Little Eva's "Let's Turkey Trot" is playing on the jukebox when the protagonists enter the cafe, thus ambient sound and not a chosen song. It was omitted from the soundtrack album. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that it "should start the kids off on another dance craze-as the tag implies" and it was a "sparkling choral and instrumental showcase on a lid that can go all the way." The song was covered by

Jan & Dean Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

on their 1963 album, ''Jan & Dean take Linda Surfin''.

The Dollyrots The Dollyrots are an American punk rock band formed in 2000, composed of wife Kelly Ogden (bass, lead vocals) and husband Luis Cabezas (guitar, backing vocals). They have released six studio albums and are currently under their own label, Arrest ...

covered the song on their EP "A Dollyrots Christmas".

References

{{authority control 1963 songs Songs written by Jack Keller (songwriter) Jan and Dean songs Songs with lyrics by Gerry Goffin 1963 singles Little Eva songs