A side composers: The Indianapolis pressing credits Leonard Ware, Elbert Williams, Luther Henderson, the Hollywood pressing only Jimmy Forrest.
B side composer: Gonzalo Curiel. The Indianapolis pressing mangles this to Gonvala-Curiel, the Hollywood pressing to Gonvalo Curiel.
Billboard, May 10, 1952, page 29: RCA Victor ad: "This Week's New Releases"
The promo and early pressings (such as the Indianapolis pressing above) attribute "Night Train" on the A side to Leonard Ware, Elbert Williams, and Luther Henderson, by whom the melody was copyrighted on August 30, 1941 (Catalog of Copyright Entries).
Later pressings (such as the Hollywood pressing below) attribute "Night Train" to former Ellington tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest.
Images
Number:1727121 THUMBNAIL Uploaded By:Bob1951 Description: RCA Victor 20-4693 A side label (Indianapolis pressing, composers Ware-Williams-Henderson)
Number:1727122 Uploaded By:Bob1951 Description: RCA Victor 20-4693 B side label (Indianapolis pressing)
Number:2229395 Uploaded By:fredhoyt Description: RCA Victor 20-4693 A side label (Hollywood pressing, composer Jimmy Forrest)
Number:2229396 Uploaded By:fredhoyt Description: RCA Victor 20-4693 B side label (Hollywood pressing)
Number:2282131 Uploaded By:83montlvr Description: Sheet Music Cover
Number:3016575 Uploaded By:83montlvr Description: Alternate A Side Label
Number:3016576 Uploaded By:83montlvr Description: Alternate B Side Label
Interesting! The sheet music gives us yet another two claimants for royalties from "Night Train", Oscar Washington and Lewis Simpkins, in addition to Jimmy Forrest. Washington and Simpkins, as far as I can see, co-wrote the first lyrics to the song.
Oscar D. Washington (1912-ca. 2004) was a songwriter and music entrepreneur in Saint Louis, MO, who ran his own publishing company, Soli Music Publishers and the labels Ballad Records and SaintMo. He also played the guitar, recording under the name Faith Douglas. In his day job, he worked as a high school chemistry teacher. Unfortunately, he suffered a tragic end. His body was discovered buried in his backyard in August 2005. An autopsy was unable to determine a cause of death, but it seems that his son Farrand Washington, who'd died in a car crash just before the discovery, had been cashing his father's Social Security checks for several months.(source) (wikipedia bio).
Lewis Simpkins (1918-1953) worked as an A&R man for two Chicago labels, both run by Lee Egalnick, Miracle Records (1946-1950) and Premium (1950-1951), before founding his own label, United, in 1951.
The promo and early pressings (such as the Indianapolis pressing above) attribute "Night Train" on the A side to Leonard Ware, Elbert Williams, and Luther Henderson, by whom the melody was copyrighted on August 30, 1941 (Catalog of Copyright Entries).
Later pressings (such as the Hollywood pressing above) attribute "Night Train" to former Ellington tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest, who charted with his version of the tune, on which he takes a long tenor sax solo, for 20 weeks in 1952. Apparently, Buddy Morrow transcribed Forrest's memorable solo for his trombone, which is probably why Forrest needed to be credited on later releases. BMI also lists Jimmy Forrest as the composer of the melody.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Train_(Jimmy_Forrest_composition)). The wikipedia article, by the way, follows almost word for word Ted Gioia's entry about this song in his "Jazz Standards", page 301.
Added alternate record label scans. The "A" Track -- with the ComposerJimmy Forrest. Not sure who those composers are on the current scan in top position? Maybe a different song? Hmm..?
xi -- thanks for that info, I see you changed the Composer credits