Blue Bayou (1977) 9/24/20

Baseball fans may know this little bit of trivia: When catcher Tim McCarver (one of the very few players to take the field in 4 decades: 1959-1980) moved to the broadcast booth to do MLB color commentary for Fox Sports, he coined a phrase that ties directly into today's “Great Song of the '70s!”

Whenever a pitcher would strike out someone with a fastball, Tim would call the pitch a “Linda Ronstadt.” Why? Because it “”Blue Bayou!”

Well, of course, that's the name of one of Linda's biggest hits—a song originally co-written and released by Roy Orbison back in 1963.

Roy's version was a bigger hit overseas than it was in the US, mainly because in other countries, the record was treated as a 2-sided hit with “Mean Woman Blues,” and both sides were played equally. Together, “Mean Woman Blues” and “Blue Bayou” went to #1 in Australia and Ireland, as well as #3 in the UK and Belgium.

In the US, however, it was treated strictly as the “B” side, and many stations didn't play it. “Mean Woman Blues” went to #5 on the Hot 100, while “Blue Bayou” only reached #29.

Skip to 1977. Linda Ronstadt covers the song and BIG things happen! It didn't quite get to #1, but take a look at these chart numbers:

Top 40: #3 in the US. #2 in Canada.

Adult Contemporary Chart: #3 in the US. #2 in Canada.

Country Chart: #2 in the US AND Canada.

The song was certified platinum (selling over TWO million copies), and Linda was nominated for TWO Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Performance.

It became one of Linda's signature songs.

As for Roy? Well, at the very least, he had to be happy with the songwriting residual checks. :-)

And Tim? He's in the Baseball hall of Fame as a broadcaster.

I guess it worked out well for everyone! :-)

“Blue Bayou:” A “Great Song of 1977 (and 1963)

Linda:

Roy: