I came across the following video while poking around YouTube. It's one that every blues harmonica player should watch. This is the soul of blues harmonica--which is to say, blues harmonica madness--right here. Give it the viewing time it deserves:
Well look: James Cotton was recording "Creeper Creeps Again" in the 70s, and Magic Dick was blowing "Whammer Jammer" live. So somebody damned well COULD stand with NB in the 70s. I'm not saying his playing is subtle, or that I would do every bend the same way, or that Charlie McCoy couldn't have played a lot of this stuff more cleanly, or that guys like Carey Bell and Big Walter (that Alligator album??) didn't have a whole lot going on, too. They all did. I'm just impressed by the total package--the soulfulness and energy that stand behind the technique. I'll grant you this: there weren't very many guys who could throw down like this back then.
It's the repeated riff around 2:30 that gets me. The fast stuff is great; it would have sounded somewhat faster back then than it sounds now, because we've had Sugar and Jason and other speed demons blowing things up for a while. I just like the way he throws himself into it--combined, of course, with that technique. And I like the chugging in the second solo.
I've always known about his solo on "Runaway," and I've liked his blues album, especially his solo on "Tore Down," which is kick ass. But the recent conversations about him have helped me see just how ferocious he is. I never saw him live; that would have made a difference. Anyway, YouTube is a good resource! It helps remedy a few holes in our educations.
Last Edited by on Oct 25, 2011 3:34 PM
I've modelled some of my onstage footwork on Norton, as well as some of my repeating riffs as Adam pointed out. The man was an absolutely blistering talent! ---------- Hawkeye Kane
saw an incredible performance by buffalo in the '80s.
buffalo and elvin bishop followed charlie mussellwhite.
at one point buffalo is playing solo harp with no hands ala sonnyboy. he spit the harp out of his mouth and caught it in mid air. then seemlessly commenced blowing cupped with his 545 he had attached to a mic stand while the band kicked in full throttle. WHOAA! i swear this is true. it was one of those,'how did he do that?!' moments. every show the man was in constant movement. every show i saw was a v. high energy affair. ----------
MP doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
I saw him play a Halloween show in a very thick rubber Reagan mask. How did he play harp through it or stand the heat?
Anyway, I went to college in Sonoma so I saw Norton plenty and he was always nice. His backup band played when he wasn't in town and they would often let me play the show with them. So I guess I was the backup harp player for the backup band for the backup harp player for Steve Miller.
Just before he past away, we both taught the Kerrville Folk Festival Harmonica Workshop with Rob Roy Parnell. Just the 3 of us and 25 students 5 hours a day for 3 days. I have pictures of a harp band situation with Brad Trainham on chord, me on bass and Norton on chrome and I have a picture with no harps, but mouths open, Norton U blocking, Rob Roy is puckering and I am tongue blocking. That's on my wall. In any case, he was a very nice man, great teacher and player. I can't really say we became friends, but we got along great it felt like I came full circle with him before he passed away too soon.
I lived in the sf bay area when he was playing really nice medium sized clubs supporting his early albums. He was amazing - and I clearly thought he was setting a new standard at the time , and yes I was listening to Cotton, Magic Dick etc. comparing him with them is a bit of the apples to oranges thing though -Charlie McCoy is closer to it- and an early technical monster in his own right.
I actually don't think this clip represents what he did best though. He was a showman with a very theatrical persona and presentation. His playing featured very original and carefully crafted melodic lines that supported the songs and the stories those songs told. westerny cowboy romantic - scenarios. He always 'did' a great Walter Brennan- dagg nabbit thing on one of his songs for instance. Find a copy of 'loving in the valley of the moon'- well worth owning though it is not a balls to the wall jammer like this clip is. ----------
Last Edited by on Oct 25, 2011 6:50 PM
Michael: You went to sonoma (granola) state? I got my masters there in 02 and lived in sonoma county from 78-81 and again from 96-2006. I lived at the kerchev (SP??) commune new members house on 116 in sebastopol. It is now a day care I think. Norton was best friends with diamond jim, who oversaw the place. He was a frequent visitor. I wore out my welcome there after a month or so when they figured I was there for the free bed only. No knock on Norton but his playing and stage presence never did anything for me-to frantic and busy. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Adam, Norton live was definitely a different experience from his recordings. I saw him live with Roy Rogers and it reminded me of the scene in Red River where the two gunfighters are showing off with each other by keeping a can in the air with their bullets. Here's one from later in his career with Roy; at about 1:20 he switches from diatonic to chromatic, then eventually back to diatonic. The switch back is impressively seamless.
@Walter and Michael, - did either of you know Roy back when he played around with David Burgin? I hung with them a bit then and used to sit in. Dave Burgin was (and is?) a very very good harp player. Tasty as hell and precise too. - worth checking into.
This one is a really poignant goodbye country blues ballad - shot in one of their living room's Long Hard Road
Here's one from Lovin in the Valley of the Moon - complete with Walter Brennen. The album was not on any blues label - it was on CAPITOL freakin records.
I believe that's Norton imitating Walter Brennan on "Hangin' Tree". It sounds like an impersonation (a pretty good one), and the album with that tune, "Lovin' In The Valley Of The Moon" was released in 1977. I think Walter Brennan died a few years before that.
Last Edited by on Oct 25, 2011 8:51 PM
I have the Dave Burgin Wild Child album, he's great and I saw him live at the Cotati Cabaret. Never saw him with Roy. Walter, we just missed each other I was there from 87 to 91. But, like our Austin connection, we probably knew a lot of the same folks.
I'm a huge fan of Norton, he influenced me a lot. His family released Buffalo's new CD and it have been sold from his site. But there is no Norton Buffalo site. But I tell you his new CD is great(I had bought it)! May be someone know, what happened? His family wrote that they plan to release "Norton and Knockouts" album. ---------- http://www.youtube.com/user/wheelharp
@ Todd Parrott - As far as I'm aware Norton used Huangs and worked on his own harps. He kept one set for chords etc. and another e.t. for melodic stuff. Switching between keys and chord/melody tuned harps frequently. He liked the (Huang)ones that looked like GMs. 8). He used Huang 48 chroms too but mostly the CBH model. @ Michael Rubin - I have and really like that Dave Burgin album too. Norton did bv's and I think trombone on it as well. Fantastic. It is an album that Carlos Del Junco also, lists as an inspiration. Hard to find info about him/his career anywhere...? I have a couple of Amos Garrett albums he played on in the 80's. A great and very fun player - where is he now ? KiwiRick http://www.richardshanksart.com
Last Edited by on Oct 26, 2011 2:42 AM
bonedog569: His name doesn't ring a bell. Roy, like Norton, is way to frantic for my liking thus I only saw either of them perform when I was on the same bill. I prefered to hang with the older black players in the oakland scene. They moved more to my gear.
Michael: Do you remember teresa and the brewers? doug the guitarist has played with me on and off for the past 30+ years. His sister teresa was the singer and doyle brahmall(now with clapton) was thier second guitarist. He has been with the pulsators for the past 20 odd years. Doug and I had a popular blues band back then called Walter Tore and the below zero blues band. We played 20-30 dates a month in sonoma county alone! Plus I played at 5-10 gigs in the oakland clubs with guys like sonny rhodes, cool papa, mississippi johny waters, etc. I didn't have to have a day job during the time I lived there. Bill Bowker, The cotati caberet (now a jewish temple)mark the owner of the caberet and the inn of the begining, uncle mark(a real eccentric), the tradewinds, brass ass (my wife worked there), and a whole lot refer growers that played, populated Cotati back then. We would do a few shows a year on the bandstand in the park downtown. That was always a very interesting experience. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
There was always something about Norton that connected with me and he is the kind of person that can be admired. Fans were able to send him e-mails when he was sick and dying. It was nice to let him know he was loved from a far. I have a feeling he is one of those talents that the average fan like me knows about a 10th of what the man actually possessed. He certainly aquired success as a musician and harmonica player....
Michael: Pat Newman- a name from the past I forgot about! We had a rough go one night. A story that will remain between the 2 of us. Thank god one grows up :-) Danny with the schellville blues band is another I remember. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
@ Rick Shanks: From what I´ve heard David Burgin is out of the music business and doing a "regular" job these days. A pity. This is hijacking the thread a bit from Norton B, but David Burgin did an album w/ Roy Rogers, N B:s musical partner, sometime in the 70´s -- anybody heard that one? Called "A foot in the door" if memory serves.
Martin, I have this LP, David's playing on it is very fresh and interesting! I think that his manner is close to Buffalo's in some things. ---------- http://www.youtube.com/user/wheelharp
Michael: I will always remember Pat because if I had succeeded in my encounter with him, I would be sitting in the big house for life.... Yes, he was a butterfield clone and often played joe froggers on 4th street in santa rosa. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
I will never forget the day that I watched Norton Buffalo on an Austin City Limits show in 1978...
a day or two later, I went to the local Oasis Records store and bought my first harmonica, and Norton's first two vinyl albums "Desert Horizons" and "Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon", which were not easy to find !
I would love to have a video recording of that Austin City Limits show !
I ordered the recent tribute CD from the norton-buffalo.com website a few weeks ago, but it looks the domain expired.
There is a Facebook group "Tribute to Norton Buffalo" at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/270365073166/
Last Edited by on Oct 27, 2011 5:03 PM
Yeah, Dave Burgin was excellent. He was a main influence for Carlos Del Junco.
The last few years, Norton had a side project with his wife - more of a folk style. It was here that his heart was, as this music could only be described as magical. He also played beautiful melodic and jazz style chromatic. He guests on a few cuts for artists like Kenny Loggins - his playing on Kenny's cd DECEMBER is one of the most beautiful chromatic playing recorded. Its a shame that this side of Norton is not as well known as his country pyrotechnics or blues band playing. I've heard many stories about the great spirit that he was with no airs about him, always willing to lend a hand when needed or play in any situation with a smile and positive attitude. ---------- The Iceman
@Bonedog: I´d be happy to try to digitize "Wild child" -- if I just can get someone who tells me how to do it. I have it on an almost pristine vinyl copy; it´s on a defunct label and deserves to be more widely spread, Burgin was/is a great player.
@martin -- there are fairly cheap record players with usb connectors, just for that purpose. I don't know if they work on Macs though. Otherwise you need to take the 'tape out' form the back of your reciever and plug that into some type of audio computer interface.
If your computer has a 'mic in' jack you would get an rca to mini stereo jack cord for the connection. Then you would need some recording software, set up a stereo track to record into, hit record and play the record.
All easier said than done I'm afraid. Plan B would be to ask your buddy's if they've got a setup to do it.
I'll work on 'Foot in the Door' when I get a chance - not deadlines promised or eta's - but it's 'on the list' ----------
Digitizing Records....NCH Software has a program called Golden Records Vinyl to CD Converter. It is free (at least for a while). Some of their software lets you use it for free and if you don't want to pay for it after a trial period, will convert it to a simpler version (without bells and whistles) free. I use their music converter software for changing music formats and it works great. Haven't tried out the vinyl to cd converter myself yet, but it looks interesting. You just need to hook up a turntable to the computer. Software has info on what to do. ---------- The Iceman
@Bonedog: I´ll check out my more techo oriented buddies equipment firstly. Just sold off 90% of my vinyl collection (needed the space), saved some harp stuff like "Wild hild", but I think I´ve seen cheapo digitizers that appears to work and that could be an option. I´ll get back to ya, and yes, no hurry. /Martin
Way back in the day, I had a tough time getting a single note on the harp. I just could not get a clean note by tongue blocking or puckering. One day I curled my tongue and there it was. Never heard of anyone doing it and harmonica forums didn't exist, but it worked well for me so I stuck with it. Figured that I was just a weird duck. When I ran across other harp players, they would scratch their heads and say "You do what?" THEN, a Norton Buffalo instructional vcr video came along and the very first thing he mentioned was that he curled his tongue to get his single notes. I felt validated. Later, someone tagged it as Ublocking. Bought everything he recorded and loved his technique and his mastery. I added tongue blocking to my arsenal since, but still Ublock mostly. I'll always owe Norton Buffalo for where I've gotten in my harp playing. Great vids, by the way. ---------- Ricky B http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N, iTunes, iBook THE DEVIL'S BLUES--ditto HOWLING MOUNTAIN BLUES--Ditto too, now available
cool, played a few notes for kudzu and he said. what are you doing? never saw anybody play like that. so if U blocking is good enough for Norton, good for me.. for single solid notes, that is my go to.....hey if the runaway solo was played that way!
he also is tongue blocking (not U) some awesome rhythm stuff in this video.. It is interesting much of the time his tone is not deep. probably that is how he can play so fast chording
Last Edited by walterharp on May 26, 2015 6:18 PM
I was lucky enough to see Norton twice, once with the Steve Miller Band at a big venue, and again some years later with his band the Knock Outs at a smaller venue. He was that rare breed of harmonica player, equally brilliant at diatonic and chromatic harmonica playing. ---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
upon further review i do believe that is a high A i'll stand by my assumption that it is a vest pocket harmonica. just by the way he cups it, looks like he switched harps later on.
I've always said Norton was the only harp player on the planet that could play with Roy Rogers and do it well. Normally harp doesn't blend well with slide guitar, and its not something you hear much. It took Norton's unique style and talent to make a harp sound good with the blistering speed of Roy"s slide guitar.
I was lucky enough to see Roy and Norton play together about four or five years before he died in a small club on North Shore of Lake Tahoe. It was unforgettable!
Last Edited by Harpaholic on Jun 02, 2015 5:33 PM
I was put on to NB in the late '70s by Jim Fitting. He blew my head off. Still does. Very few folk were doing that stuff like that back then. ---------- Tony Eyers Australia www.HarmonicaAcademy.com everyone plays...
I stumbled across this 2011/2015 thread recently. I resolved to comment a week ago, then demurred. Today, I'm gonna do it.
Contrary to the original post, the harmonica playing in the original video is not blues, is not blues harmonica, and is not the soul of blues harmonica.
This is an observation, not a criticism. If I had to peg it, I'd say this is country flavored harmonica, very good harmonica, but not blues.
