Beautiful custom-made Heritage W. T. Armstrong baritone saxophone personally-owned and -played by Doug Norwine during his long career recording for The Simpsons. Norwine used this saxophone to record the solo heard in the show’s opening theme song, in addition to playing it on the show’s two musical albums, The Simpsons Sing the Blues and The Yellow Album, the show’s popular ‘Bleedings Gums Murphy’ episode, and even in the original Simpson TV incarnation, Matt Groening's 30-second Life in Hell ‘bumpers’ on 1987's The Tracey Ullman Show. Moreover, this is the same saxophone Norwine played on the Ray Charles album My World, and onstage with such legends as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Frankie Valli, Melissa Manchester, and Chaka Khan, as well as on the Roseanne TV series and myriad TV and radio commercials.
The instrument has an attractively etched design on the front and the back lower side of the body is engraved with Norwine’s signature, the serial number, “85712,” and the text: “Made in West Germany Exclusively for W. T. Armstrong Company by Julius Keilwerth, Musical Instrument Factory.” Includes the original carrying case, marked “Lisa Simpson” on the cover in silver ink, as well as Norwine’s official serial number hologram-style RIAA platinum sales award presented to him “to commemorate RIAA certified platinum sales of more than 1,000,000 copies of the Geffen Records album, cassette and C.D. ‘The Simpsons Sing the Blues.'” Framed with its plate, CD cover, disc, and an image of Lisa Simpson playing her sax to an overall size of 17.5 x 21.5. In overall fine condition, with scattered rusting or pitting to the saxophone.
The many decades-long (and counting) popularity of The Simpsons is a dynamic, cutting-edge chapter in TV history and few sounds conjure the mad creativity of the early, irreverent, in-your-face episodes as Lisa Simpson wailing away on her saxophone. Doug Norwine, was Lisa's sax alter-ego, both in the show's pivotal early years and on the top-selling music albums Simpsons Sing the Blues (which went gold and platinum) and The Simpson Yellow Album (partly produced by George Clinton, founder of Parliament Funkadelic). The Simpsons transcended being a mere weekly show—it proved to be both a culture shock and an iconic success story. This saxophone fully captures an instantly recognizable sight-and-sound sensation from an ongoing TV classic and exists as a hugely desirable centerpiece collectible for the serious Simpsons fan.
