Re: [Harp-L] Norton Buffalo & the Many Harps

[Grant Walters <grant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Also of interest at Norton gigs...and I attended too many to count...
He had different mics for different purposes.  If memory serves me....one was like a sure 58...just for harp...in addition to his vocal mic....one was a bullet...not sure about any pedals...
Although, now that I think about it ...early on he may have been the one who introduced me to the echo plex....my memory is f
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Grant Walters
On Oct 21, 2010, at 6:36 AM, tacopescado@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> He missed the change in the video and finished it in G on a C# harp.  On the record he uses a C in crossharp.
> 
> Taco in Baja
> 
> On Oct 21, 2010, at 7:33 AM, Buck Worley wrote:
> 
>> 
>> "The last harp in the sequence is a C harp played in first position, I
>> believe"
>> 
>> Yes, I believe you are right. In the video it appears to be that way. Sounds like you knew Norton well. That was a great story! What a great player/performer/artist he was. May he rest in peace.
>> BW
>> 
>> 
>>> From: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
>>> Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Norton Buffalo & the Many Harps
>>> Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:19:49 -0700
>>> 
>>> The last harp in the sequence is a C harp played in first position, I
>>> believe.
>>> He actually messes it up in the video the second time through. He plays the
>>> Db OK, but then doesn't switch on to the C and so has to play out the solo
>>> in C on a Db harp. He screws it up a bit, but the recovery is quite a feat -
>>> suddenly having to play in 6th position! I think he knows that he pulled the
>>> wrong harp, so he got 2 bar warning at least.
>>> Norton was a wonderful show off and it bit him like this on occasion. I
>>> always enjoyed his act and his stories, no matter how often I heard them. In
>>> fact, I appreciated the familiarity of them.
>>> With regards to dropping harps (and also showing off). I once had the
>>> pleasure of attending a show at Lou's in San Francisco where he changed
>>> harps with such fury that he could not hold on to it. It appeared to shoot
>>> out of the side of his head, flew through the air and landed on one of the
>>> tables in the audience. He finished the song without it and then took a
>>> short break to recover the instrument.
>>> Sorely missed.
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Buck Worley [mailto:boogalloo@xxxxxxx]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 6:08 AM
>>> To: derwood.blues@xxxxxxxxx; harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
>>> Cc: John Norris; Lyndsie Worley
>>> Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Norton Buffalo & the Many Harps
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Please allow me:
>>> 
>>> He is switching harps as the chords change. I've been doing it for years.
>>> This is one of my all time favorite harmonica solos and if you can pull it
>>> off in a live show, it always, always gets a round of applause. Here it is,
>>> simply put without doing a music chord chart or going into modality
>>> explainations and/or theory stuff. Just "think" 2nd position:
>>> 
>>> C chord played / F harp used
>>> Bb " " / Eb harp
>>> Ab " " / Db harp
>>> G " " / C harp (ending on the #1 hole blow which brings
>>> you back to C)
>>> repeat chord (& harp) progression
>>> 
>>> Thanks for the video. I have never seen him do it. I'll bet he dropped a
>>> harp from time to time. :D
>>> 
>>> The way I do the switching is by holding all 4 harps between my fingers.
>>> This style of holding does not allow for tight cupping but if you have the
>>> chops and the right gear it works. I use an old vintage JT30 Astatic with an
>>> old vintage Switchcraft volume control. I do not adjust the VC while
>>> performing this solo though.
>>> 
>>> Happy Harpin'
>>> Buck W
>>> 
>>>> From: derwood.blues@xxxxxxxxx
>>>> Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:01:43 -0400
>>>> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Subject: [Harp-L] Norton Buffalo & the Many Harps
>>>> 
>>>> Suave Blues Man provided:
>>>> 
>>>> "Here's some of Norton - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPzcZNgVfpA";
>>>> 
>>>> What is up with all the harp switching? Starting around 1:20 he has a solo
>>>> where he make 7 harp switches which, it appears, he uses 3-4 harps. I am
>>>> impressed that he can grab the right one for the right moment and not drop
>>>> one in the process.
>>>> 
>>>> Derwood
>>> 
>>> 
>> 		 	   		
> 
>