If I Were a Bell

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

If I Were a Bell is a song written by Frank Loesser for the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls. In the show, Sister Sarah sings it after Sky Masterson takes her to Havana for dinner and she ends up getting drunk. Her strict attitude softens, and she falls in love with Sky, who won’t take advantage of her. On Broadway, it was sung by Isabel Bigley and appears on the original cast recording. Lizbeth Webb also recorded it for the 1953 London production at the London Coliseum. The song became a jazz standard after Miles Davis recorded it on Relaxin’ with The Miles Davis Quintet (1958), with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. Since then many jazz musicians have played it, and it’s a favorite in jam sessions. The Miles Davis version was used in the final scene of the last episode of The Cosby Show, when Cliff triggers the doorbell to play the opening notes and he and Clair dance off.