"Blue Bayou" is a song written by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

and Joe Melson. 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 an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

, with which she scored a top 5 hit with her cover in 1977. Many others have since recorded the song.

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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

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 co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

single (HLU 9777), where both sides peaked at number 3. It was issued as a B-side single in the US, 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 (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' 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'', from the 1988 television special on

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

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

Use in other media

This song has been used in several

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

s including: * ''

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

'' (1976), 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 (film), Performance'' (1970), ''Walkabout (film), Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973) ...

and starring

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

* '' Last Orders'' (2001), directed by

Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ;Pauline Kael, 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 Cha ...

* ''

Dreamcatcher In some Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher (, the Ojibwe language#Grammar, inanimate form of the word for 'spider') is a handmade willow hoop, on which is ...

'' (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 ...

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

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

* '' American Made'' (2017), directed by

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...

and starring

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

* '' 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 won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing troubled police officer Jason Dixon in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). He was nominated i ...

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

Justin Chon Justin Jitae Chon (born May 29, 1981) is a South Korean-American actor and filmmaker. He has directed three films, Gook (film), ''Gook'' (2017), ''Ms. Purple'' (2019), and ''Blue Bayou (film), Blue Bayou'' (2021). He is also known for portrayin ...

. In the film, the song is sung by actress

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (; ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. List of awards and nominations received by Alicia Vikander, Her accolades include an Academy Award and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film ...

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the ...

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 main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. This song has also been used in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

digital series, ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...

'' (Season 2, Episode 6). A French language version of the song entitled "Tu n'es plus là" was released in 1963 by French rock and roll singer Dick Rivers.

Linda Ronstadt version

Background

took the song to #3 on the ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), ...

'' 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 ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' Top 100 chart. The single was

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

certified Gold (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 the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where it topped the singles charts. Ronstadt's version was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Ronstadt also recorded a Spanish-language version of the song (translated by her father, Gilbert Ronstadt), 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 episode 523 of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

'', first aired on October 26, 1980, in the UK, and May 16, 1981, in the 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 (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

, 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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

broadcaster

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (October 16, 1941 – February 16, 2023) was an American professional baseball catcher, television sports commentator, and singer. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1959 to 1980 for four teams, spending almost ...

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 1961 songs 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 Songs written by Roy Orbison Songs written by Joe Melson 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

Use in other media

Linda Ronstadt version

Background

Track listings

7" vinyl

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References

External links