Norton Buffalo

Norton Buffalo
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Background information
Birth name	Phillip Jackson
Born	(1951-09-28)September 28, 1951 Oakland, California, United States
Died	October 30, 2009(2009-10-30) (aged 58) Paradise, California, United States
Genres	Rock, blues-rock, psychedelic rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer–songwriter, artist, actor, record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Harmonica, Trombone, Keyboards, Guitar, Percussion
Years active	1976–2009
Labels	Capitol, Blind Pig Records

Norton Buffalo (far right, in the blue-green shirt) on his last tour with the Steve Miller Band during the summer of 2009.

Phillip Jackson (September 28, 1951 – October 30, 2009), best known as Norton Buffalo, was an American singer-songwriter, country and blues harmonica player, record producer, bandleader and recording artist who was a versatile exponent of the harmonica, including chromatic and diatonic.

Career

Buffalo, the son of a harmonica player, was born in Oakland, California and raised in Richmond, California. At John F. Kennedy High School he performed in a series of bands. By the early 1970s he gained renown as a San Francisco Bay Area musician, playing with such Bay Area groups as Clover, The Moonlighters led by Bill Kirchen, and Elvin Bishop.

In early 1976 Buffalo joined the "farewell" European tour of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and was recorded on the band's final live album We've Got A Live One Here!, which included Buffalo's song Eighteen Wheels. After the tour, Buffalo returned to California, briefly played with a number of local bands, and later in 1976 he joined the Steve Miller Band's Fly Like an Eagle Tour. He also played harmonica on the band's hit follow-up album Book of Dreams, released in May 1977. Buffalo appeared on the tracks Winter Time and The Stake.

By the late 1970s Buffalo had formed his own band, The Stampede, and recorded two Capitol Records albums: Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon and Desert Horizon. In 1977 his harmonica work appeared on Bonnie Raitt's Sweet Forgiveness and The Doobie Brothers' Livin' On The Fault Line albums. Not long after the release of his second album in 1979, Buffalo and his band were featured on the PBS music television program Austin City Limits. In 1981 he produced an album for the popular Northwest band Wheatfield. He was a member of the Mickey Hart band High Noon in the late 70s and early 80s with Merl Saunders, Mike Hinton, Jim McPhearson, Vicki Randle, and Bobby Vega, and played with Saunders on the Rainforest Band album It's in the Air in 1993.

Buffalo is legendary among harpists (harmonicists) for his solo on Bonnie Raitt's treatment of Del Shannon's "Runaway", in which he switches quickly between four different harps (F, E♭, D♭, and C) to play across the chord changes in the song (Cm, B♭, A♭, G).

Buffalo also appeared in and worked on several films. He did a cameo appearance in the rock movie, The Rose starring Bette Midler, where he was a member of the band (on harmonica and trombone) and spoke a line or two. He had another cameo in Michael Cimino's 1979 film Heaven's Gate starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Sam Waterston and Jeff Bridges. He also co-wrote the music for the films Stacy's Knights and Eddie Macon's Run with guitarist Mike Hinton.

Norton performed and recorded as a member of The Steve Miller Band for over 32 years. He often performed and recorded music as a session musician, and appeared on 180 albums. A cover of Buffalo's song Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox was in heavy rotation at Jerry Garcia Band concerts from 1991 until Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, and appeared on the live release Shining Star.

On September 2, 2009 Buffalo was diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the lower right lobe of the lung. The next day, he found out that it had spread to his brain. Norton retired to his home in Paradise, California, where he sought treatment at Feather River Hospital. He died on October 30, 2009 in Feather River Hospital.

As a benefit for the Buffalo family, friends of Buffalo threw "A Celebration of Life: Tribute To Norton Buffalo" at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. Headlined by the Steve Miller Band, which Buffalo was a member of for 33 years, the event honored his life and career (over 180 album appearances). Other acts and performers included The Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Huey Lewis, George Thorogood, Elvin Bishop, and Carlos Reyes.

Awards

Buffalo played harmonica on two tracks on The Doobie Brothers' Grammy award winning 1978 album Minute By Minute. He was also nominated for a Grammy in 1992 for "Best Country Instrumental Performance" for the tune Song For Jessica from his 1991 Duet CD R&B with Guitarist Roy Rogers, on Blind Pig Records.

Discography

• Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon, Capitol Records, 1977
• Desert Horizon, Capitol Records, 1978
• R & B (with slide guitarist Roy Rogers) (Blind Pig, 1991)
• Travellin’ Tracks (with Roy Rogers) (Blind Pig, 1992)
• It's In The Air - Merl Saunders & the Rainforest Band (Summertone 1993)
• "In the Third Degree" James Ibold and the Impostors (Mirage Independent) 1996
• King of the Highway (Blind Pig Records, 2000)
• Roots Of Our Nature (Blind Pig Records, 2003)
• The Spirit Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar with George Kahumoku Jr. (Daniel Ho Creations, 2008)
• From Paradise with George Kahumoku Jr. (Moon Valley Music, 2012)
• "Here Comes The Rain" Laurie Lewis (Rounder Records, 1993)

Go to Norton Buffalo's Official Website for a detailed listing of his other recordings.

Filmography

• Heaven's Gate (1979)
• The Rose (1979)
• Blood Beach (1980)
• Eddie Macon's Run (1983) co-wrote the music with Mike Hinton
• Stacy's Knights (1983) co-wrote the music with Mike Hinton

See also

• List of Austin City Limits performers
• San Francisco Blues Festival