Phillip Jackson (September 28, 1951 – October 30, 2009), best known as Norton Buffalo, was an American singer-songwriter,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and blues harmonica player, record producer, bandleader and recording artist who was a versatile proponent 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 The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

musician, playing with such Bay Area groups as

Clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

, 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 Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were an American rock band founded in 1967. The group's leader and co-founder was pianist and vocalist George Frayne IV, alias Commander Cody (born July 19, 1944 in Boise, Idaho, died September 26, 2021 ...

, 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 The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

's Fly Like an Eagle Tour. He also played harmonica on the band's

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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 The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

' ''

Livin' on the Fault Line ''Livin' on the Fault Line'' is the seventh studio album by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The album was released on August 19, 1977, by Warner Bros. Records. It is one of the few Doobie Brothers albums of the 1970s which did not ...

'' albums. Not long after the release of his second album in 1979, Buffalo and his band were featured on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

music television program ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show to ...

''. 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 Merl Saunders (February 14, 1934 – October 24, 2008) was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ. Biography Born in San Mateo, California, United States, Saunders attended Polyt ...

, Mike Hinton, Jim McPhearson,

Vicki Randle Vicki Randle (born December 11, 1954)Hillgirlz, the les ...

, and Bobby Vega, and played with Saunders on the Rainforest Band album ''It's in the Air'' in 1993. Buffalo was 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). An example of Buffalo's solo on "Runaway" can be seen on Bonnie Raitt's portion of the "Midnight Special" TV program broadcast on June 10, 1977, entitled "Little Feat and Friends." Buffalo also appeared in and worked on several films. He did a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in the rock movie, '' The Rose'' starring Bette Midler, where he was a member of the band (on harmonica and

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

) and spoke a line or two. He had another cameo in

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Cimino achieved fame with ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Bes ...

's 1979 film '' Heaven's Gate'' starring

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

, Christopher Walken,

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...

and

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

. 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 The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

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 The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side projects until his death in 1995. The band regularly tour ...

concerts from 1991 until Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, and appeared on the live release '' Shining Star''. Norton continued to tour with

thru early 2009, including a show on Maui, with recognizable harmonies & harmonica. On September 2, 2009, Buffalo was diagnosed with stage four 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 In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...

, California, where he sought treatment at Feather River Hospital and died there on October 30, 2009. 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, on January 22 and 23, 2010. Headlined by the Steve Miller Band, the event honored his life and career. Other acts and performers included The Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, George Thorogood, Roy Rogers, Maria Muldaur, Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Carlos Reyes and the Norton Buffalo Band.

Awards

Buffalo played harmonica on two tracks on The Doobie Brothers' Grammy-award-winning 1978 album ''

Minute by Minute ''Minute by Minute'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released on December 1, 1978, by Warner Bros. Records. It was their last album to include members John Hartman (until '' Cycles'') and Jeff "Skunk" Bax ...

''. He was also nominated for a Grammy in 1992 for "Best Country Instrumental Performance" for the tune "Song for Jessica" from his 1991 duet album ''R&B'' with Guitarist

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

Blind Pig Records Blind Pig Records is an American blues independent record label. Blind Pig was formed in 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Jerry Del Giudice, owner of the Blind Pig Cafe, and his friend Edward Chmelewski. The label is now based in San Francisco. I ...

Discography

* ''Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon'' (1977), Capitol Records * ''Desert Horizon'' (1978), Capitol * ''R & B'' (1991),

– with slide guitarist

* ''Travellin’ Tracks'' (1992), Blind Pig – with Roy Rogers * ''Here Comes the Rain'' (1993), Rounder Records – guest artist appearing with Laurie Lewis * ''It's in the Air'' (1993), Summertone – guest artist appearing with

& the Rainforest Band * ''In the Third Degree'' (1996), Mirage Independent – guest artist appearing with James Ibold and the Impostors * ''King of the Highway'' (2000), Blind Pig *Christmas Jug Band- Uncorked (2002) Guest artist singing I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Globe Records * ''Roots of Our Nature'' (2003), Blind Big – with Roy Rogers * ''The Spirit of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar'' (2008), Daniel Ho Creations – with George Kahumoku Jr. * ''From Paradise'' (2012), Moon Valley Music – with George Kahumoku Jr. With Elvin Bishop *'' Big Fun'' (Alligator, 1988)

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

References

External links