"Blue Bayou" is a song written by Roy Orbison 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'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, but released by Monument as the double A-side track on a Monument Records single in the UK, yet was issued as the B-side single in the US, peaking at number 29; "Mean Woman Blues" was a US number 5, released in August 1963, written by Claude Demetrius and originally recorded by Elvis Presley in 1957. In the UK both sides peaked at number 3 as a double A-sided single on London Monument, HLU 9777. The song also appeared on Orbison's 1963 full-length albumIn Dreams. According to the official Roy Orbison U.S. discography by Marcel Riesco, a rare different version of "Blue Bayou" was released only in Italy. "Blue Bayou" reappeared on his 1989 posthumous album A Black & White Night Live, from the 1988 television special on Cinemax.
Linda Ronstadt took the song to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 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 BoxTop 100 chart. The single was RIAA certified Gold in January 1978. It was the first of Ronstadt's three Gold singles. Don Henley of the Eagles sang backup on the recording. "Blue Bayou" was later certified Platinum. It was a worldwide smash.. Ronstadt's version was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Ronstadt also recorded a Spanish-language version of the song, titled "Lago Azul ", 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, 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, a pitch that "blew by you". That phrase was coined by Mets broadcaster Tim McCarver, during a Mets telecast in the 1980s. Ronstadt's version appears, in edited form, in the 2017 movie American Made.
Karli Webster, contestant of season 13 of The Voice, sang the song in the knockouts against Janice Freeman. Although she lost the knockout, she came back as a comeback artist for Miley Cyrus in the live shows. However, Webster was again eliminated.
