Nothin' But The Soul – Eli "Lucky" Thompson

In Nothin' But The Soul, the unique, elegant language of Lucky Thompson is translated into the blues scale nearly throughout. This blues head really has a question-and-answer format in its riff melody. As with many of Lucky's blues, the changes are full of alterations and passing chords. The "turnaround" is particularly interesting: E♭m7 for two beats, B7 for four beats over the bar line, then two beats of E7 back to E♭7 in the 11th measure ending in a chromatic descent back to B♭ for the last measure.

There is an eight-measure piano intro on the recording; it's indicated in our lead sheet though without specific changes. The horns harmonize for the last melody phrase; this is shown in all lead sheets rather than first and second parts.

Nothin' But The Soul is one of several songs Lucky Thompson first recorded in Paris in 1956 which he played there again in 1960. Live versions of both this song and Why Weep were on a TV broadcast in the latter year.

"Lucky Thompson And His Orchestra" was Lucky's only recording as a leader for the French Columbia label. A week before this session, he recorded for the same label on a session by guitarist Jean-Pierre Sasson. Check out Easy Going for another recording featuring Sasson.