Richard Thompson’s musical chops have earned him a reputation as one of popular music’s greatest guitarists. His songwriting credentials are likewise as impeccable. His voice is as distinctive as it is underrated.

Put all three skills and talents together and who needs a band? Thompson’s Sunday night solo show at Shaftman Performance Hall was a phenomenal display of musicianship from a legitimate legend.

He covered a career of 40 years in two hours, playing as many favorites as one could expect. His days as a teenage wunderkind in Fairport Convention? Check. (“Matty Groves”) The creatively fruitful years with ex-wife Linda? Check. (“I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight,” “Walking On a Wire,” among others.) His ’80s solo stuff that made him a cult-rock hero. Triple check. (“Valerie,” “I Feel So Good,” etc.) The elder statesman songs that introduced him to fans younger than his own children. Bang. (“1952 Vincent Black Lightning”)

Highlights were as plentiful as notes he extracted from his acoustic guitar. “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” struck a nerve, especially when he explained that “Dad” was shorthand for Baghdad the same way “Nam” was short for Vietnam. On a lighter note, the comic ditty “Hearts for the Smarts” proved that Thompson prefers brains before blondes.

Every song was a mini-masterpiece and musical tour de force. Dark and desperate songs such as “Cooksferry Queen,” “Walking the Long Miles Home” and “Persuasion” were delivered with passion and virtuosity. He credited Del McCoury for making “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” a bluegrass hit. “Can you have a bluegrass hit?” he asked.

Thompson honored a request from the audience, which filled about two-thirds of the hall, to play the 400-year-old folk ballad “Matty Groves,” which bears resemblance to the Appalachian ballad “Shady Grove.”

He reached back into his old kit bag for the old favorite “Wall of Death” then closed with a new tune, “Sunset Song.” Still sharp at age 57, Thompson is not ready to ride off into the sunset just yet.