Rogers And Buffalo Unplug Their Pure-Blues Passion

Long before unplugged became the buzz at MTV, bluesmen Roy Rogers and Norton Buffalo were pursuing the joys of acoustic music.

Both men are best-known to local audiences for their high-amplitude work: Rogers has appeared here with his band, the Delta Rhythm Kings, while Buffalo has done local dates with the Steve Miller Band, Elvin Bishop and his own Knockouts.

But a good argument can be made that they’re best when they team up on acoustic instruments. They’re so good that in 1991 they won a Grammy nomination for an acoustic duet, a song called “Song for Jessica,” from their CD, “R&B.”

Making the honor especially noteworthy is the fact “R&B” was released on the tiny Blind Pig label.

Tonight, Rogers and Buffalo will unplug for a much-anticipated show at The Met.

For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure, Rogers is a stunning slide guitar player, while Buffalo plays an unbelievable harp. Both sing, with varying success but no lack of spirit.

Neither is a purist but both have a solid grounding in the Delta blues, and they don’t play anything that isn’t rooted in tradition. Their duet work sticks close to pure blues.

Rogers, who is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, gained fame as John Lee Hooker’s guitarist and produced Hooker’s huge comeback record, “The Healer,” along with three others.

“I just can’t say enough good things about Roy,” Hooker says. “He plays so good; some of the best slide I’ve ever heard - best blues I’ve ever heard. He gets real deep and funky, and he masters whatever he plays.”

It’s a commentary on the state of the blues in the U.S. that Rogers still plays small clubs here - three or four years ago, he played the Big Dipper - while he and his band are regularly invited to play at such prestigious festivals as Montreaux and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

“I still play mainly small clubs in the U.S. because I’m not that well-known,” he says.

But more than that, he still seems to enjoy the intimacy of a small club. At least that’s what he used to tell the staff at the old Red Lion Tavern when he began playing there. And he says he still enjoys playing The Saloon, a dinky North Beach club in San Francisco.

“People ask me why I still play (The Saloon), but I just like that funky little club.”

Buffalo, who is also a native of Northern California, is a pure entertainer who seems to love nothing more than being onstage - his show at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint earlier this month ran 2 1/2 hours and he didn’t quit until the crowd was ready.

He made some noise on FM radio back in the late ‘70s when a couple of first-rate LPs gave birth to such quasi-hits as “Nobody Wants Me.” He’s guested on some 100 records - including the Doobie Brothers’ “Minute by Minute” and “Livin’ on the Fault Line,” a slew of Steve Miller albums and Bonnie Raitt’s “Sweet Forgiveness” (he played the solo on her first big hit, “Runaway”.)

Buffalo has enjoyed an amazingly varied career - he sang the original theme song of the “Garfield and Friends” cartoon show - and does a killer Walter Brennan imitation.

His first harp hero was Sonny Terry, one-half of the great blues duet, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee: “When I heard his music, it made me feel real happy,” Buffalo has said, “and that’s what I wanted to do with my harmonica.” You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone to say he hasn’t succeeded.

MEMO: This sidebar ran with story: Roy Rogers and Norton Buffalo Location and time: The Met, tonight, 8 Tickets: $11 ($14 at the door)