Posted by Aubrey on July 21, 2024

“The Blue Bayou is the most romantic dining spot in Disneyland. Classic dishes with a French touch are served in an atmosphere of perpetual moonlight. Guests dine on a terrace alongside a bayou where fireflies twinkle and evening stars glimmer above live oak trees draped with Spanish moss. Bateaux carrying guests bound for Pirates of the Caribbean glide silently by in the distance, and an old swamp-dweller surveys the entire scene from the porch of his lantern-lit shack.”

excerpt from Disneyland: Dreams, Traditions, and Transitions (1993) by Leonard Shannon

A complete track list for the Blue Bayou Restaurant loop.

Referencing available online footage, this loop seems to have begun playing at The Blue Bayou Restaurant sometime around 2016 - 2017. In years prior, guests were entertained by the quiet banjo from an unseen player, picking “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)” and “Oh, Susanna” or by the occasional live music performance. During the winter months, a holiday loop of vocal and instrumental New Orleans-based tunes could be heard as far back as 2011. Between the holiday and regular loops, Aaron Neville makes a return appearance as a member of his sibling band, “The Neville Brothers.”

We were fortunate to find a complete, uninterrupted reference recording of this loop thanks to the YouTube channel "The World of Chkpiano" who recorded a vlog that covered the full loop and a half. About a week after I found the vlog, it was limited to paying subscribers only. Since it was a public video for several months I am going to post the audio here.

BLUE BAYOU LIVESTREAM.mp3

https://app.box.com/s/bnee1afbe1rwlbkonp86c0yrtfdxb83e

Thanks to IHeartGaming for his assistance in identifying the “Down by the Riverside” track. The track is only available on out of print albums, and so I am uploading a copy of it here. For reference, I used “The Very Best of the Neville Brothers” compilation album. Regarding the last track, Down by the Riverside, I secured a copy of the same track from the Treacherous album and didn’t hear it there either. Strange…

Amazing Grace - Down by the Riverside - Amen.flac

https://app.box.com/s/b3oiarbkqeeycn3ttxc38wmyg1ieihuk

The Blue Bayou Restaurant

Loop length 00:57:18.914

  1. When the Saints Go Marchin’ In - Rebirth Brass Band - Do Whatcha Wanna (loop length 00:06:17.271) <note: Fades in for a few seconds, starts at 0:05.497 in source>
  2. Meet de Boys on the Battlefront - The Wild Tchupitoulas - The Very Best of the Neville Brothers or Treacherous: A History Of The Neville Brothers (loop length 00:03:17.977) <note: Completely faded out by 03:18.267 in source>
  3. Encore: Hey Pocky-A-Way (Live) - The Meters - Uptown Rulers! Live on the Queen Mary (Live) (loop length 00:02:57.693) <note: Starts at 0:40.135 in source; completely faded out by 3:37.829>
  4. Qualified - Dr. John - The Very Best Of Dr. John (loop length 00:04:36.930) <note: Completely faded out by 4:37.373, when next track starts>
  5. Gemini Rising - The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Voodoo (loop length 00:04:07.774)
  6. Junko Partner - Dr. John - The Very Best Of Dr. John (loop length 00:04:21.311)
  7. Honey Dripper - Dr. John - The Very Best Of Dr. John (loop length 00:03:34.476)