Depending on the country of release, this side would either be reserved for the songs "Old Paint", "Love Me Tender, "Maybe I'm Right, or "Poor Poor Pitiful Me".

Released

August 23, 1977 (US)

Format

7" vinyl

Genre

Country rock, Rock ballad

Length

3:57

Label

Asylum

Writer(s)

Roy Orbison, Joe Melson

Producer(s)

Peter Asher

Linda Ronstadt singles chronology

"Lose Again"
(1976)

"Blue Bayou"
(1977)

"It's So Easy"
(1977)

"Blue Bayou" is the title of 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, who scored a charting hit with her cover of "Blue Bayou" in 1977. The song has since been recorded by many other artists over the years.

A plaintive ballad, "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 album In Dreams.

"Blue Bayou" reappeared on his 1989 posthumous album A Black & White Night Live, from the 1988 television special on Cinemax.

US: Monument Records 824

Side one

Side two

This song has been used in several motion pictures including:

Linda Ronstadt took the song to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1977 — where it held for four weeks — as well as number 2 Country and number 3 Easy Listening. It also reached number 2 — for four weeks — on the Cash Box Top 100 chart.

The single was RIAA 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 sang backup on the recording. "Blue Bayou" was later certified Platinum (for over 2 million copies sold in the United States). It was a worldwide smash and was also popular in a Spanish-language version called "Lago Azul".

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Wikipedia