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

["Richard Trafford-Owen" <richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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