RIPPERS SONG FACTS! Song Name: Sleep Walk Song Artist: Santo & Johnny Year Released: 1959 Peak US Chart Position: #1 (Billboard Top 40) Rippers Lead Vocalist: Instrumental (Guitar lead by Richard Tyrel) Sleep Walk is an instrumental steel guitar-based song written, recorded, and released in 1959 by brothers Santo & Johnny Farina. (The BMI Repertoire database and the original release credits three Farinas as composers including sister Ann.) It was recorded at Trinity Music in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Sleep Walk entered Billboards Top 40 on August 17, 1959. It rose to the number-one position for two weeks in September (the 21st and the 28th) and remained in the Top 40 until November 9. Sleep Walk also reached number four on the R&B chart. It was the last instrumental to hit number one in the 1950s and earned Santo & Johnny a gold record. One of the first covers was by Betsy Brye (stage name of Bette Anne Steele), also in 1959. It was released on a single by Columbia Records as catalog number DB 4530. Although Santo & Johnny wrote lyrics for Sleep Walk, they never recorded a version with the lyrics; Bryes version includes these lyrics. This haunting instrumental has been used in numerous movies, commercials and TV shows to convey a feeling of melancholy or nostalgia. It was used in the death procession scene in the movie La Bamba, and also appears in Twelve Monkeys and Charlies Angels: Full Throttle. Santo and Johnny Farina were a Brooklyn guitar duo, and they had one more hit, the #23 Tear Drop, which charted a few months later. They also recorded the theme to the movie The Godfather, and had a huge hit in Mexico with their version of And I Love Her. When they recorded Sleep Walk, Santo was 22 and Johnny was 18. It was their first release. The song has been also covered by Farm Equis (featuring Ariel Contino in guitars), Al Kooper (playing the guitar part on synthesizer), Al Caiola, Paul Mauriat, The Shadows, Les Paul, Tom Doughty, The Ventures, California Guitar Trio, Jake Shimabukuro, Danny Gatton, Larry Carlton, Deftones, Leo Kottke, Chet Atkins, B. J. Cole, Basil Henriques, Micah P. Hinson, Amos Garrett, Henri Rene, Jonathan Richman, Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Charlie Musselwhite, The Chantays, Tommy Crook, The Stokers, Steve Howe, Blake Mills and Carlos Santana recorded a cover version for the musical score to the 1987 feature film La Bamba but this version was not released in the soundtrack. The Brian Setzer Orchestra recording of Sleep Walk received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998. Country Music Hall of Famer Jimmy Russel Brand recorded a version in 2001. French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel had a Top 20 hit in Europe with his version of the song, recorded in 2006. Modest Mouse, Deftones, My Morning Jacket, and The Raveonettes have all recorded adaptions of the song with lyrics. youtu.be/1st_9KudWB0
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 04:09:56 +0000
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