[1][2] He composed, arranged, and conducted the orchestra for such wide-ranging artists as Rosemary Clooney, Mae West, Julie London, Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, Judy Garland, Jerry Lewis, and Phil Ochs.

[2] In an interview, Van Dyke Parks, who hired Thompson to arrange "Canon in D" for his 1976 album Clang of the Yankee Reaper, said: "In terms of raw invention, I place Bob in the pantheon of Spike Jones, Les Paul, and Juan García Esquivel.

This style of breezy, experimental orchestral music became popular in the 1950s and 1960s following the introduction of the long-playing microgroove record and the advent of high-fidelity and stereo home audio systems, which allowed enhanced sonic reproduction.

All three RCA Victor albums featured top session musicians from the late 1950s west coast jazz scene, including drummer Shelly Manne, percussionist Emil Richards, alto saxophonist Bud Shank, trombonist Frank Rosolino, trumpeter Al Porcino, guitarist Al Hendrickson, and bassist Red Callender.

The Sound of Speed was described by Irwin Chusid, who produced several reissues of Thompson's work, as: a 'concept' LP [that] rhapsodizes the technology of human transport, from Vespa scooters to Le Mans racers, from tricycles to rocket ships.

Thompson provided the arrangements for a number of RCA Victor Records artists after the Space Age pop albums, such as Bing Crosby, Maureen O'Hara, Julie London, Duane Eddy.

[7][8] Although not close, Thompson made an effort to help Clooney with substance abuse problems and drove her home from the Ambassador Hotel immediately after Robert Kennedy was assassinated.

He contributed arrangements for the films Picnic (1955), Seven Men from Now (1956; title theme), The Long Hot Summer (1958), and I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!

"Bob made a study of rock, soul, how the Fender Rhodes was played in pop music, and the advent of the synthesizer," wrote his son Spenser Thompson.

[19] Bertelsmann Music Group, that purchased RCA Victor Recordings, included Thompson in its History of Space Age Pop series (1994).

[21] Over the last 30 years, these songs have been selected to appear on television and film including "The Big Journey" episode of Sex and the City (2002), an Old Navy commercial, and the I'm Reed Fish soundtrack (2006).