"Sleep Walk" | ||||
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Single by Santo & Johnny | ||||
from the album Santo & Johnny | ||||
B-side | "All Night Diner" | |||
Released | August 1959 | |||
Recorded | 1959 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:20 | |||
Label | Canadian-American Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Santo Farina, Johnny Farina, Ann Farina [3] | |||
Producer(s) | Leonard Zimmer | |||
Santo & Johnny singles chronology | ||||
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"Sleep Walk" is an instrumental song written, recorded, and released in 1959 by American instrumental rock and roll duo Santo & Johnny Farina, with their uncle Mike Dee playing the drums. [4] Prominently featuring steel guitar, the song was recorded at Trinity Music in Manhattan, New York City. "Sleep Walk" entered Billboard's Top 40 on August 17, 1959. It rose to the number 1 position for the last two weeks in September [5] and remained in the Top 40 until November 9. "Sleep Walk" also reached number 4 on the R&B chart. [6] It was the last instrumental to hit number 1 in the 1950s and earned a gold record for Santo and Johnny. [7] [8] In Canada, the song reached number 3 in the CHUM Charts. [9] In the UK it peaked at number 22 on the charts. [10]
As children, both Santo and Johnny Farina were encouraged by their father, Tony, [11] to learn the steel guitar and write their own music. [12] This music would be recorded on a Webcor tape recorder their father had bought for them. [11] Unable to fall asleep one night after a gig, the Farina brothers decided to write some music, using the tape recorder to first record the harmonies to what would become "Sleep Walk". [11] [12] After adding and finalizing the steel guitar melody, Johnny Farina believed they had a hit song, so he spent a year and a half talking with various music publishers about the possibility of professionally recording "Sleep Walk". [13]
The "Sleep Walk" demo made a positive impression on Ed Burton of Trinity Music. [12] After ultimately signing with Canadian-American Records, [12] the brothers recorded "Sleep Walk" at Trinity Music, using a triple-neck Fender Stringmaster on the recording. [11]
"Sleep Walk" entered the Billboard Hot 100 on July 27, 1959. [14] Announced on the radio by DJ Alan Freed, [12] [13] the instrumental rose in popularity until it became the number 1 single for the last two weeks of September of that year. [12] [15] [16] After losing the position to Bobby Darin's recording of "Mack the Knife", [17] it remained on Billboard's Top 40 until November 1959. [12]
Chart (1959) | Peak position |
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UK Singles (OCC) [18] | 22 |
Canada CHUM Chart [19] | 3 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [20] [21] | 1 |
Chart (1958–2018) | Position |
---|---|
US Billboard Hot 100 [22] | 563 |
British group The Shadows recorded the tune for their 1961 album The Shadows . [23]
"Sleep Walk" was a principal inspiration to Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green for his 1968 instrumental "Albatross", which became a worldwide hit. "Albatross" in turn inspired the Beatles song "Sun King" from Abbey Road . [24]
American guitarist Larry Carlton recorded a version of the song for his 1981 album Sleepwalk. [25]
The song "Sleepwalking (Couples Only Dance Prom Night)" by the band Modest Mouse, from their 1996 EP Interstate 8 , drew inspiration from "Sleep Walk" in its melody, with the main addition to the original being added vocals/lyrics. [26]
The Brian Setzer Orchestra rendering of "Sleep Walk" received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998. [27]
The virtuoso American guitarist Joe Satriani recorded his version of "Sleep Walk" on his 2002 album Strange Beautiful Music . [28]
The song inspired Stephen King to write his first screenplay, for the 1992 horror film Sleepwalkers . The film features the song as well. [29]
Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, with artists such as Bill Doggett Combo, The Fireballs, The Shadows, The Ventures, Johnny and the Hurricanes and The Spotnicks. Surf music had many instrumental songs. Many instrumental hits had roots from the R&B genre. The Allman Brothers Band feature several instrumentals. Jeff Beck also recorded two instrumental albums in the 1970s. Progressive rock and art rock performers of the late 1960s and early 1970s did many virtuosic instrumental performances.
Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll instrumental duo of Italian descent from Brooklyn, New York, composed of brothers Santo Farina and Johnny Farina.
Sleepwalk may refer to:
"Misty" is a jazz standard written in 1954 by pianist Erroll Garner. He composed it as an instrumental in the traditional 32-bar format, and recorded it for the album Contrasts. Lyrics were added later by Johnny Burke. It appeared on Johnny Mathis' 1959 album Heavenly, and this recording reached number 12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart later that year. It has since become the signature song of Mathis.
"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a pop song composed by Buck Ram. It was originally recorded by The Platters with lead vocals by Tony Williams in 1955.
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"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical Roberta. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. Its first recorded performance was by Gertrude Niesen, who recorded the song with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's second cousin, on October 13, 1933. Niesen's recording of the song was released by Victor, with the B-side, "Jealousy", featuring Isham Jones and his Orchestra.
"Mountain of Love" is a song written by Harold Dorman. Dorman released his version as a single in 1960. It was originally recorded in late 1959 at the Royal Recording Studios in Memphis before the backing vocals were overdubbed. It performed well, spending 19 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 21 in May 1960, while reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart, and No. 25 on Canada's "CHUM Hit Parade". The song was his only top forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the highest-charting single of his career.
"The Happy Organ" is an instrumental composition made famous by Dave "Baby" Cortez in 1959. Cortez co-composed it with noted celebrity photographer James J. Kriegsmann and frequent collaborator Ken Wood. A significant portion of the tune bears a strong resemblance to the traditional "Shortnin' Bread" tune. The record topped the Billboard Hot 100 on 11 May 1959 and also reached #5 on Billboard's R&B chart. In Canada, the song reached #6.
"The Battle of New Orleans" is a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1959, it was very popular with teenagers in the late 1950s/early 1960s in an era mostly dominated by rock and roll music.
"When You Walk in the Room" is a song written and recorded by Jackie DeShannon. It was initially released as a single on November 23, 1963, as the B-side to "Till You Say You'll Be Mine". It was re-released as an A-side in September 1964, and later included on the album Breakin' It Up on the Beatles Tour. The single charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 99.
"Walk, Don't Run" is an instrumental composition written and originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954, which achieved worldwide fame when The Ventures recorded a cover version in 1960.
"Raunchy" is an instrumental by American rock and roll artist Bill Justis, co-written with Sidney Manker and produced by Sam Phillips. The tune, from the album Cloud 9, was released as a single on the record label Phillips International Records, a sub-label of Sun Records, on September 23, 1957.
"Don't Worry" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Marty Robbins. It was released in February 1961 as the third single from his compilation album More Greatest Hits. The song was Robbins' seventh number one on the country chart and stayed at number one for ten weeks. The single crossed over to the pop chart and was one of Marty Robbins' most successful crossover songs, peaking at number three on the Hot 100.
"Last Date" is a 1960 instrumental written and performed by Floyd Cramer. It exemplifies the "slip note" style of piano playing that Cramer made popular. It peaked at number 11 on the country chart and at number two on the Hot 100 behind "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" by Elvis Presley. Cramer's recording inspired a number of successful cover versions, including a vocal adaptation by Conway Twitty.
"Peter Gunn" is the theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the television show of the same name. The song was the opening track on the original soundtrack album, The Music from Peter Gunn, released by RCA Victor in 1959. Mancini won an Emmy Award and two Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Arrangement. In 2005, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
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Santo & Johnny is the debut album by the homonymous duo, released in 1959. The album includes the duo's best known instrumental, "Sleep Walk".
Instead, ["Sleep Walk" is] pretty standard of the slow, ornate R&B ballads that were popular in the era. But the difference, of course, is that it's an instrumental.
Part doo-wop dreamweave, part surf-rock chill session, "Sleepwalk" was a Number One hit for Brooklyn brothers Santo and Johnny...