"Blue Bayou" is a song written by Roy Orbison and

Joe Melson Joe Melson (born May 1935) is an American singer and a BMI Award-winning songwriter. Life and career Joe Melson was born in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas, United States. He was reared on a farm until he was sixteen. He attended high school in ...

. It was originally sung and recorded by Orbison, who had an international hit with his version in 1963. It later became

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

's signature song, with which she scored a Top 5 hit with her cover in 1977. The song has since been recorded by many others.

Roy Orbison version

Background

"Blue Bayou" was originally recorded by Roy Orbison at the end of 1961. In the UK, it was released by London Monument as the double A-side track with "

Mean Woman Blues "Mean Woman Blues" is a rock and roll song written by Claude Demetrius. Elvis Presley recorded it for the soundtrack of the 1957 film, '' Loving You''. In an album review for AllMusic, Bruce Eder described it as "some powerful rock & roll... whic ...

" on a

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG), and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left ...

single (HLU 9777), where both sides peaked at number 3. In the US, it was issued as a B-side single, peaking at number 29; the A-side, "Mean Woman Blues", peaked at number 5. The song also appeared on Orbison's 1963 full-length

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

'' In Dreams''. According to the authorised biography of Roy Orbison, a rare different version of "Blue Bayou" was released only in Italy (London 45-HL 1499). "Blue Bayou" reappeared on his 1989 posthumous album ''

A Black & White Night Live ''A Black & White Night Live'' is a Roy Orbison music album made posthumously by Virgin Records from the HBO television special, '' Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night'', which was filmed in 1987 and broadcast in 1988. According to ...

'', from the 1988 television special on

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...

Track listings

7" vinyl

US: Monument Records 824 Side one # "Blue Bayou" (Roy Orbison, Joe Melson) – 2:29 – Recorded in late 1961. Side two # "Mean Woman Blues" (

Claude Demetrius Claude Demetrius (August 3, 1916 – May 1, 1988) was an American songwriter. He was known for his rockabilly songs, some of which were made famous by singers such as Elvis Presley. Biography Demetrius was born in Bath, Maine, United States. By ...

) – 2:23

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References in popular culture

This song has been used in several motion pictures including: * ''

The Man Who Fell to Earth ''The Man Who Fell to Earth'' is a 1976 British science fiction drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg and written by Paul Mayersberg. Based on Walter Tevis's 1963 novel of the same name, the film follows an extraterrestrial (Thomas Jerome Newt ...

'' (1976), starring

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, directed by

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976 ...

* ''

Last Orders ''Last Orders'' is a 1996 novel by British writer Graham Swift. The book won the 1996 Booker Prize. In 2001, it was adapted for the film ''Last Orders (film), Last Orders'' by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi. Plot The story makes ...

'' (2001), directed by

Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ; Kael, Pauline (1984). '' Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include '' The Chant of Jimmie ...

* ''

Dreamcatcher In some Native American and First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher ( oj, asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for 'spider') is a handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web. It may also be decorated with sacred items such as ...

'' (2003), directed by

Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Edward Kasdan (born January 14, 1949) is an American filmmaker. He is the co-writer of the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), ''The Force Awakens'' (2015), and '' Solo: A Star Wars St ...

* '' Man on Fire'' (2004), directed by

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

* '' The Best of Enemies'' (2019), directed by Robin Bissell, and starring Taraji P. Henson and

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (19 ...

* '' Blue Bayou (film)'' (2021), directed by

Justin Chon Justin Jitae Chon (born May 29, 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has directed three films, ''Gook'' (2017), '' Ms. Purple'' (2019), & ''Blue Bayou'' (2021). He is also known for portraying Eric Yorkie in '' The Twilight Saga'' film ...

. In the film the song is sung by actress

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (, ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, as well as receiving nominations for ...

Jacques Cousteau included an abridged version of the song during a "River Explorations" episode which details environmental changes on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. This song has also been used in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

digital series, '' Stranger Things'' (Season 2, Episode 6).

Linda Ronstadt version

Background

Linda Ronstadt took the song to #3 on the ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

'' in late 1977, where it held for four weeks, as well as #2 Country and #3 Easy Listening. It also reached #2, holding there for four weeks, on the '' Cash Box'' Top 100 chart. The single was RIAA

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

(for sales of over 1 million US copies) in January 1978. It was the first of Ronstadt's three Gold singles. Don Henley of the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

sang backup on the recording. "Blue Bayou" was later

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

(for over 2 million copies sold in the United States). It was a worldwide smash, charting in countries such as Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, where it topped the singles charts. Ronstadt's version was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and for

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

. Ronstadt also recorded a Spanish-language version of the song, titled "Lago Azul (Blue Bayou)", which was released in 1978 on the single Asylum E-45464, backed by "Lo Siento Mi Vida", a previously released Spanish song that Ronstadt herself co-wrote. This version has never been included on any reissues of ''Simple Dreams''. Ronstadt later performed the song on the episode 523 of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...

'', first aired October 26, 1980 on UK, and May 16, 1981 on United States. Because of this song, ''Dickson's Baseball Dictionary'' records that a "Linda Ronstadt" is a synonym for a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

, a pitch that "blew by you". That phrase was coined by

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

broadcaster

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardina ...

, during a Mets telecast in the 1980s. Ronstadt's version appears, in edited form, in the 2017 film '' American Made'' and in

's 2004 film '' Man on Fire''.

Track listings

7" vinyl

US: Asylum Records E-45431 Side one # "Blue Bayou" (Roy Orbison, Joe Melson) – 3:57 Side two # "Old Paint (traditional, arranged by Linda Ronstadt) – 3:05

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1963 singles 1977 singles Roy Orbison songs Linda Ronstadt songs Monument Records singles Asylum Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Irish Singles Chart number-one singles The Muppets songs Schlager songs Songs written by Roy Orbison Songs written by Joe Melson 1961 songs Song recordings produced by Fred Foster Number-one singles in Mexico

Roy Orbison version

Background

Track listings

7" vinyl

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References in popular culture

Linda Ronstadt version

Background

Track listings

7" vinyl

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References

External links