Bo-Bi My Boy – Eli "Lucky" Thompson

A blues head with that classic ornamental yet deep quality that Lucky made his own. The melody is relatively simple at first, but the changes are quite sophisticated with a lot of chromatic and stepwise approaches. Starting in the eighth measure, the tonality is slightly obscured, with the changes winding chromatically around D♭m7 to G♭7: a tritone substitute III-VI7 that works out in the tenth measure to Fm7. This is followed immediately, the first time through the head, by a classic "Tadd Dameron" turnaround; the sustained melody note B♭ connects these chords.

There is an eight-measure intro that reappears as an ending, featuring a series of solo breaks for the bass. On our Bass part, we show Oscar Pettiford's breaks from the recording.

Solos on the recording are on standard E♭ blues. However, the substitute changes of the head can also be explored, as they are a welcome challenge to solo on.

Bo-Bi My Boy comes from the same session as A Lady's Vanity; this album also includes the session recorded the following week that includes Deep Passion, Tom-Kattin' and Translation. Two other Lucky Thompson blues heads were recorded on the other trio session later that year with Skeeter Best and Oscar Pettiford: Mister Man and The Plain But The Simple Truth. The meaning of this song's title is unknown.