"Bleeding Gums" Murphy (possibly Murphy Hibbert) 1935-1995 was a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced mainly by Ron Taylor. He was a jazz musician, and an idol of Lisa Simpson. He only predominantly appeared in the episodes "Moaning Lisa" and "'Round Springfield", and made brief appearances in "Dancin' Homer", "Old Money" , "Flaming Moe's , "Radio Bart" and "Lisa's Pony". Simpsons redirects here. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The shield and spear of the Roman god Mars, which is also the alchemical symbol for iron, represents the male sex. ... A jazz musician is someone who plays or sings jazz music. ... Julius Hibbert, M.D. is a doctor and physician from the TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. ... Moaning Lisa is the sixth full-length episode of The Simpsons. ... Ronald James Taylor (October 16, 1952 Galveston, Texas–January 16, 2002) was an American actor. ... Dancin Homer is the fifth episode of The Simpsons second season. ... Alice, a fictional character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... An animated series or cartoon series is a television series produced by means of animation. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Ronald James Taylor (October 16, 1952 Galveston, Texas–January 16, 2002) was an American actor. ... Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character on the animated television series The Simpsons, and is voiced by Yeardley Smith. ... Moaning Lisa is the sixth full-length episode of The Simpsons. ... Round Springfield is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons, and the 125th episode overall. ... Dancin Homer is the fifth episode of The Simpsons second season. ... Old Money is the 17th episode of the second season of The Simpsons. ... Flaming Moes is the 10th episode of the The Simpsons third season. ... Radio Bart is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. ... Lisas Pony is the eight episode of the The Simpsons third season. ...

Biography

Alto saxophone player and probable long-lost brother of Dr. Julius Hibbert,^[1] Bleeding Gums was a mentor to Lisa Simpson until his early death. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Julius Hibbert, M.D. is a doctor and physician from the TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. ... Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character on the animated television series The Simpsons, and is voiced by Yeardley Smith. ...

Bleeding Gums learned his musical skills "at the feet of" "Blind Willie" Witherspoon. Willie wanted to give Bleeding Gums his saxophone, only to be finally told that it wasn't a saxophone and actually an umbrella, meaning that Willie had actually been playing an umbrella for some forty years. Bleeding Gums explained to Willie that no one informed him of the mistake because "we all thought it was funny".

He recorded only one album called Sax on the Beach, which was extremely lucrative, but he soon went broke after spending too much of his money on several Fabergé eggs a day. In "'Round Springfield" he revealed that he had once made a guest appearance on The Cosby Show in 1986 as the Huxtable children's grandfather, as well as appearing on Steve Allen's Tonight Show. The Moscow Kremlin egg, 1906 A Fabergé egg is any one of fifty (fifty two, including the unfinished Karelian Birch and Tsarevich Constellation examples) Easter eggs made by Peter Carl Fabergé for the Russian Czars between 1885 and 1917. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American musician, comedian and writer instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Murphy makes his first appearance playing his saxophone on a bridge in the middle of the night. This is a reference to Sonny Rollins, the great saxophonist, who famously retired from public and was not seen for three years, until a journalist discovered him playing the saxophone alone on the Williamsburg Bridge. An early Rollins picture graces the cover of Volume One Theodore Walter Sonny Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on Long Island at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278). ...

In the episode "Moaning Lisa", he played and vocalized a song written by Lisa.^[2] It pleased Lisa to see the performance of her own jazz song in the bar "The Jazz Hole", but not everyone in the family were happy with lyrics, as they criticized several of them. Moaning Lisa is the sixth full-length episode of The Simpsons. ...

Bleeding Gums appears in a brief role in the episode "Dancin' Homer". He sings a twenty six minute version of the American National anthem "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Springfield Isotopes game. Dancin Homer is the fifth episode of The Simpsons second season. ... Nicholson took the copy Key gave him to a printer, where it was published as a broadside on September 17 under the title The Defence of Fort McHenry, with an explanatory note explaining the circumstances of its writing. ...

He also appears in the episode "Lisa's Pony", where he serves as one of the three judges for the talent show, giving Bart a 10 for his impersonation of Principal Skinner and also appears in "Radio Bart", where he joins in with the song "Sending Our Love Down the Well". Lisas Pony is the eight episode of the The Simpsons third season. ... Radio Bart is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. ...

Bleeding Gums (left) appearing to Lisa Simpson in a cloud, after his death in 'Round Springfield.'

Image File history File links 2f32. ... Image File history File links 2f32. ...

Death

He makes his final appearance in "'Round Springfield". ^[3] When Bart ends up in the hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O, Lisa finds Bleeding Gums in a hospital bed in a nearby ward. They play Carole King's "Jazzman" together entertaining the hospital. He explains about his life, family and work to her as well as giving her advice for her upcoming school performance, lending her his saxophone. When Lisa returns she finds out that Bleeding Gums has died from circumstances that are never revealed. The episode in which Bleeding Gums Murphy dies is strongly based on the movie 'Round Midnight', in which the fictional character of Dale Turner (based on Lester Young and Bud Powell) likewise dies without explanation. Round Springfield is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons, and the 125th episode overall. ... Bart and his sister Lisa as news anchors Bartholomew J. Bart Simpson is a main character in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. ... Krusty-Brand Cereal (also known as Krusty-Os) is a fictional brand of breakfast cereal featured on The Simpsons. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Round Midnight is a 1986 film directed by Bertrand Tavernier that tells the story of a tenor saxophone player in Paris in the 1950s who is befriended by a poor Frenchman who idolizes the musician and tries to help him to get out of his life of alcohol abuse. ... Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed Prez, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. ... The Amazing Bud Powell - early LP cover Earl Rudolph Bud Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966 in New York City) was one of the most influential pianists in the history of jazz. ...

No one, except for Lisa, attends Murphy's funeral. Reverend Lovejoy gets his name wrong, calling him "Blood and Guts Murphy" as well as saying that he was "quite the sousaphone player". This prompts Lisa to buy his album, as the jazz station didn't have it, although she cannot afford it. Bart uses the $500 he got from his court case against "Krusty O's" to buy it for her. She gives it to the jazz station who play it on the radio. The signal isn't strong enough, but a lightning strike boosts the signal so that all of Springfield does hear it. For the Simpsons episode, see $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling). ...

Then as a parody of "The Lion King", Murphy's face appeared from the clouds, thanking Lisa for her final tribute and performing "Jazzman" one last time with her at the episode finale (to further the parody, other famous characters voiced by James Earl Jones appear as well; Mufasa from The Lion King, Darth Vader from Star Wars and Jones' own CNN narration). The Lion King is a 1994 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ... James Earl Jones (b. ... Mufasa is a fictional lion who first appeared in Disneys popular 1994 animated feature film The Lion King. ... Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... This article is about the series. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ...

Later, in an episode of Futurama, Jurassic Bark, the character Fry claimed that his dog had intimate relations with the leg of a wandering saxophonist, a reference to Murphy. Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated sitcom created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. ... Jurassic Bark is the second episode of season four of Futurama, airing November 17, 2002. ...

Creation

Bleeding Gums Murphy is loosely based on Blind Lemon Jefferson.^[4] This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Bleeding Gums gave the origin of his nickname in "Moaning Lisa" as thus: "Well let me put it this way... you ever been to the dentist? Not me. I suppose I should go to one, but I got enough pain in my life as it is."

The voice of Bleeding Gums Murphy was provided by Ron Taylor, while his saxophone playing is provided by Dan Higgins.^[5] In the episode "Dancin' Homer" he was voiced by Daryl L. Coley. ^[6] Ronald James Taylor (October 16, 1952 Galveston, Texas–January 16, 2002) was an American actor. ... Dancin Homer is the fifth episode of The Simpsons second season. ... Daryl L. Coley is an American voice actor. ...

Murphy has been a fixture of The Simpsons' opening sequence from Season Two on, even after his death. ^[7] He even appeared in the live-action format ^[8], in The Simpsons Sky One commercial, that was also used for the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife". Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife is an episode of The Simpsons, that aired on March 26, 2006. ...

In addition to his onscreen appearances, Murphy also appeared on The Simpsons Sing the Blues, an album of rock, and jazz music with vocals performed by characters from the show. On the track "God Bless the Child" (a cover of the Billie Holiday song), performed by Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith), Murphy speaks up after the final chorus to praise Lisa for her vocals, after which he and Lisa perform a saxophone duet for the remainder of the song. Murphy was again voiced by Ron Taylor for the song, and his alto saxophone part was performed by Kim Richmond. ^[9] The Simpsons Sing the Blues is the 1990 album released as an offshoot of The Simpsons. ... God Bless the Child is a song by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. ... Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), born Eleanora Fagan and later called Lady Day was an American singer widely considered one of the greatest jazz voices of all time. ... Martha Maria Yeardley Smith (; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress and voice actor who is best known for providing the voice of Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons. ...

References

1. ^ In the lines from "'Round Springfield":
   Bleeding Gums: "I don't really have a family, all I had was a little brother who grew up to become a doctor. He used to laugh at the most inappropriate times."
   Dr. Hibbert: "Hey I've got an older brother that I'll never see. He's a jazz musician or some such. Oh well, bye, bye."
2. ^ Moaning Lisa The Simpsons.com. URL accessed on 14 December, 2006
3. ^ 'Round Springfield The Simpsons.com. URL accessed on 14 December, 2006
4. ^ Matt Groening, DVD commentary for the episode "'Round Springfield"
5. ^ Dan Higgins Biography Dan Higgins.net. URL accessed on December 15, 2006
6. ^ Daryl L. Coley TV.com. URL accessed on December 7, 2006
7. ^ Opening Sequence SNPP.
8. ^ Real Life Simpsons Intro (He appears after 35 seconds) YouTube. URL accessed on December 14, 2006
9. ^ The Simpsons Sing the Blues, liner notes