"Blue Bayou"
Single by Roy Orbison
from the album In Dreams
B-side	"Mean Woman Blues"
Released	August 1, 1963 (1963-08-01)
Format	7" vinyl
Genre	Pop
Length	2:29
Label	Monument
Writer(s)	Roy Orbison Joe Melson
Producer	Fred Foster
Roy Orbison singles chronology
"Falling" (1963) "Blue Bayou" (1963) "Pretty Paper" (1963)

"Blue Bayou" is the title of a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison. The best known version remains Linda Ronstadt's 1977 cover, which was a top-ten pop, country and easy listening single in the U.S.; the song was included on Ronstadt's Triple-Platinum-Plus Simple Dreams album.

[edit] Roy Orbison version

A plaintive ballad, it was originally released by Orbison as a 45rpm single on the Monument Records label in August 1963 (backed with the rock song "Mean Woman Blues")^[1].

"Blue Bayou" also appears on Orbison's 1963 album, In Dreams and his 1989 posthumous album A Black & White Night Live from the 1988 HBO television special.

[edit] Track listings

[edit] 7" vinyl

US: Monument Records 824

Side one

1. "Blue Bayou" (Joe Melson , Roy Orbison) – 2:29

Side two

1. "Mean Woman Blues" (Claude Demetrius) – 2:23

[edit] Chart performance

[edit] References in popular culture

This song has been used in several motion pictures including:

• Man on Fire, Tony Scott (2004)
• Dreamcatcher, Lawrence Kasdan (2003)

• Last Orders, Fred Schepisi (2001)
• The Man Who Fell to Earth, Nicholas Roeg (1976) starring David Bowie

[edit] Linda Ronstadt version

"Blue Bayou"
German 7" single
Single by Linda Ronstadt
from the album Simple Dreams
B-side	"Old Paint"
Released	August 23, 1977 (August 23, 1977)
Format	7" vinyl
Genre	Country Rock, Light Rock
Length	3:57
Label	Asylum
Writer(s)	Roy Orbison Joe Melson
Producer	Peter Asher
Linda Ronstadt singles chronology
"Lose Again" (1976) "Blue Bayou" (1977) "It's So Easy" (1977)

Linda Ronstadt took the song to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late 1977 - as well as #2 Country and #3 Easy Listening. The single was RIAA certified Gold (for sales of over 1 million US copies) in early 1978. It was Ronstadt's only gold-selling single. ^[5] "Blue Bayou" was later certified Platinum (for over 2 million US copies sold). It was also popular in a Spanish-language version called "Lago Azul".

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."

[edit] Track listings

[edit] 7" vinyl

US: Asylum Records E-45431

Side one

1. "Blue Bayou" (Joe Melson , Roy Orbison) – 3:57

Side two

1. "Old Paint (traditional, arranged by Linda Ronstadt) – 3:05

[edit] Chart performance

[edit] Other cover versions

"Blue Bayou" has been recorded by other artists in many languages, including in the French language by France's Mireille Mathieu. The song was also recorded by Australian a cappella group The Idea of North.

Mexican singer/actress Bibi Gaytán recorded in 1994 a Spanish version of this song titled "Lago Azul", which was released as the first single from her second studio album Manzana Verde.

[edit] References