Lucky Thompson was a prolific composer. The following compilation is my best attempt to list them all based on data from discographies, commercial recordings, copyright records and archives of ASCAP and BMI.
Activating the hyperlinks allows you to listen to recordings of many of the compositions. For some, audio files of excerpts have been embedded in the list. Please consult the discography for details on the recordings sampled here. The dates shown provide the recording dates of some of the excerpts.
- Aliyah
- Angel Eyes
- Another Whirl [2010-02-27]
- Back Home from Yesterday
- Back to the World
- Beautiful Tuesday (6)
- Birth of Sunday, The [1962-05-31]
- Bittersweet, The (1)
- Blue Monday [1970-07-28]
- Bluest Blues, The (1)
- Bo-Bi My Boy (2)
- Boppin’ the Blues
- Brother Bob
- Bunny [1954-03-02]
- But Not for Tonight (5)
- Caressable
- Centre Ville
- Check Out Time
- Come Let’s Dance [no recording found]
- Commercial Eyes
- Coolin’ with Collins [mid-1950]
- Could I Meet You Later? [2010-02-27]
- Dancing Sunbeam
- Deep Passion
- Deserted Flower [1970-07-28]
- Distant Sound, A
- Down the Stretch
- Easy Going
- Ever So Easy (11)
- Evil Eva [ca.1965]
- Fanfare
- Fillet of Soul
- Fine and Lucky
- Fire Bug, The [1964-02-28]
- Fly with the Wind
- From Day Till Dawn [1961-04-28]
- Frosty Summer
- Good Luck (Glamour Game)
- Go West, Young Harold [no recording found]
- Green Man, The [1962-05-31]
- Hang Over Heaven [1961-04-28]
- Home Come’n
- Home Free
- I Came from Sunday
- I Forgot to Remember
- I Guess I’ll Heat That Coffee Pot (1) [no recording found]
- I Remember When (Love and Respect) (6)
- (I Want a) Summertime Santa Claus (1) [no recording found]
- I Wouldn’t Do It for Love nor Money [no recording found]
- I’ll Wait Forever [no recording found]
- Is the Long Road the Right Road? (Our Shared Blessings) (6)
- It’s Christmas Time, Be Happy [no recording found]
- It’s Fantasy (Scratching the Surface) (6)
- It’s Thursday [2010-09-17]
- Kinfolk’s Corner [ca.1965]
- Lady Gail
- Lady’s Vanity, A (10)
- Last Night I Met an Angel (Warm Inside) (6)
- Lazy Day
- Lincoln Heights (3)
- Little Boy Blow [1954-03-02]
- Little Tenderfoot
- Lord, Lord, Am I Ever Gonna Know
- Lucky T
- Lucky’s Workshop Theme [1960-04-22]
- Mambo In Blues [1953-08-14]
- Mid-Nite Oil
- Minor Blues
- Minor Delight, A
- Minuet in Blues [1964-02-28]
- Mister Man
- Mr. Care Free [1961-04-28]
- Mumba Neua
- Munsoon (Monsoon)
- My Heart Speaks
- Mysterioso Mr. X
- N R 1
- N R 2
- Never so Easy [no recording found]
- New Day [no recording found]
- Night Hawk, The [1954-03-02]
- No Good Man Blues (7)
- No Frost and Free [no recording found]
- No More
- Nobody Knows (1) [no recording found]
- Nothin’ but the Soul
- Nothin’ from Nothin’ [1949-09-15]
- Notorious Love [2010-02-27]
- Oh No, Please Don’t Go (1) [no recording found]
- Old Reliable
- On Easy Street [1961-08-01]
- On Tippy Top [ca.1965]
- Once There Was
- Once upon a Time
- One Cool Night (4) [chord changes of S’Wonderful]
- One for the Boys and Us
- One Last Goodbye
- OP Meets LT
- Open Haus [ca.1965]
- Paradise Valley (1) [mid-1950]
- Parisian Knights, The (Parisian Knight)
- Passin’ Time
- Passionately Yours
- Plain but the Simple Truth, The
- Please Don’t Leave Me Baby [no recording found]
- Pretty Is As Pretty Does (1) [no recording found]
- Prey Loot
- Quick As a Flash
- Rainbow Inn
- Reminiscent
- Right or Wrong (1) [no recording found]
- Ring a Ding Doo [no recording found]
- Rockin’ Chair Blues (1) [no recording found]
- Safari
- Sauvabelin
- Scene Is Clean, The [1953-08-14]
- Scuffle That Ruff (Schuffle That Ruff, Shuffle That Riff, Shuffle That Ruff)
- Sea Esther
- Seeing Is Believing
- Short Day [not auditioned]
- Shy One, The [no recording found]
- Sky High (Say That to Say This) (6)
- Slam’s Mishap
- Slow Dough
- Slow Drag [1949-09-15]
- Smooth Sailing
- Sorry Woman Blues
- Soul Carnival
- Soul City
- Soul Food
- Soul Lullaby
- Soul-lite [1970-07-28]
- Soul’s Nite Out
- Spanish Rails
- Spanyola
- Spot Session
- Stay in There (9) [mid-1950]
- Still Waters
- Street Scene
- Sun Out
- Sunkissed Rose, A
- Take Care Beware
- Takin’ Care ‘o Business (Takin’ Care ‘n Business) (4)
- Tea Time
- Test Pilots (Test Pilot, Flyin’ Blind) (8)
- Then Soul Walked In
- Thin Ice
- Tight Squeeze
- To a Mornin’ Sunrise
- To Be or Not to Be (1) [no recording found]
- To You Dear One
- Tom-Kattin’
- Translation
- Trav’lin’ (1) [no recording found]
- Tutti Frutti Honeymoon (1) [no recording found]
- ‘Twas Yesterdays (It Was Yesterdays) [1964-02-28]
- Two Steps Out (Two Stops Out, Choose Your Own) (6)
- Velvet Rain
- Voot Rhythm (Vout Rhythm)
- While You Are Gone
- Why Not (7)
- Why Weep?
- Will You or Won’t You [no recording found]
- World Awakes, The
- Yard Bird’s Pet
- Yesterday’s Bottle
- Yesterday’s Child
- You Move, You Lose
- You Never Miss the Water till the Well Runs Dry
- You’re in My Heart to Stay (7) [not auditioned]
(1) With J. Leslie McFarland
(2) With Oscar Pettiford
(3) With Jo Jones
(4) With Emmet Berry
(5) With Gerard Pochonet
(6) This title was arbitrarily assigned by producers Mark Gardner and Alan Bates when the recordings that make up the CD Candid 79035 were discovered (without titles). The equivalence with Thompson’s title, recorded only from radio broadcasts, was apparently not known when the CD was issued but finally discovered in 2006 by saxophonist Chris Byars when he auditioned one of the radio broadcasts. So far, the original Thompson title for “Beautiful Tuesday” has not been found.
(7) With Thelma Love (Thelma Lowe, Thelma Thompson)
(8) With Stuff Smith
(9) With boxer Archie Moore
(10) “A Lady’s Vanity” may be another Thompson composition that has not been recorded, an earlier title for “Deep Passion,” or Thompson’s title for his improvisations on “Body and Soul.” Some issues include “A Lady’s Vanity” as Thompson’s January 30, 1956 version of “Deep Passion” while others have his January 24, trio version of “Body and Soul.” The example linked here for “A Lady’s Vanity” is the “Body and Soul” recording.
(11) Pianist Billy Taylor may be a co-composer or the sole composer. ASCAP indicates Taylor as composer, BMI indicates Thompson. The first recording of this tune is October 1954 for Urania (Jimmy Hamilton) on which both Taylor and Thompson participated. Taylor recorded it with his trio for Prestige in April 1955.
Please email me with any additions, corrections or comments.