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. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

harmonica player, record producer, bandleader and recording artist who was a versatile proponent of the harmonica, including

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

and

diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair ...

Career

Buffalo, the son of a harmonica player, was born in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, California, and raised in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

. 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, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

musician, playing with such Bay Area groups as

Clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

, 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 country 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 ...

, 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 music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles ...

'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 Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

albums: ''Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon'' and ''Desert Horizon.'' In 1977 his harmonica work appeared on

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

's '' Sweet Forgiveness'' and

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greate ...

' '' Livin' on the Fault Line'' and Minute by Minute 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 ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

''. In 1981 he produced an album for the popular Northwest band Wheatfield. He was a member of the

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

band High Noon in the late 70s and early 80s with Merl Saunders, 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 recorded three albums with slide guitarist

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

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

in the rock movie, '' The Rose'' starring

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

, where he was a member of the band (on harmonica and

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

) 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. He achieved fame as the director of ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and ...

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

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...

, Sam Waterston and

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

. 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 A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

, 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 Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

's death in 1995, and appeared on the live release '' Shining Star''. Norton continued to tour with The Steve Miller Band through early 2009, including a show on Maui, with recognizable harmonies and 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 and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

, 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

, 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 The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-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 album ''R&B'' with Guitarist

on Blind Pig Records.

Discography

* ''Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon'' (1977),

* ''Desert Horizon'' (1978), Capitol * ''R & B'' (1991), Blind Pig Records – with slide guitarist

* ''Travellin' Tracks'' (1992), Blind Pig – with slide guitarist

* ''Here Comes the Rain'' (1993),

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

– guest artist appearing with Laurie Lewis * ''It's in the Air'' (1993), Summertone – guest artist appearing with Merl Saunders & 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 slide guitarist

* ''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 * ''Dogpound Shuffle'' (1974) Played the harmonica for the movie soundtrack. Actor David Soul performed the role of the harp player in the movie while Buffalo did the actual playing.

References

External links