According to the authorised biography of Roy Orbison,[2] a rare different version of "Blue Bayou" was released only in Italy (London 45-HL 1499).

[2] "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.

Ronstadt's version was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Ronstadt later performed the song on episode 523 of The Muppet Show, 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, a pitch that "blew by you".