If I Were a Bell

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"If I Were a Bell" is a song from the Frank Loesser show Guys and Dolls.

In the show, it is sung by the character Sister Sarah, originally performed by Isabel Bigley on Broadway, and memorialized on the original cast album. On a bet, Sky Masterson takes Sarah Brown to Havana to have dinner and gets her very drunk. Sarah's still social barriers fall away and she realizes she is in love with Sky, and he with her. She sings this after they have an eventful dinner but Sky refuses to take advantage of her drunkenness.

It has become a jazz standard since it was featured by trumpeter Miles Davis, on the 1956 Prestige album Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet. The Miles Davis Quintet featured tenor saxophone player John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The song became a Miles Davis speciality and it appears on several live session recordings and compilations in different versions. The tune was taken up and performed by countless jazz musicians and is still a favourite in jam sessions. So closely is the tune associated with Miles Davis that it is often miscredited as one of his own original compositions.