Santo & Johnny's 1958 Instrumental Hit, "Sleep Walk!"

One of my favorite movies in 1987 was “La Bamba!” It’s about the life of 1950s rock & roller Ritchie Valens. The song “Sleep Walk” appears prominently at the end of the film during Ritchie Valens' funeral and the subsequent tear jerker scene of his brother, Bob, screaming Ritchie's name to the heavens (that scene gets me everytime!). It also appears at the beginning of the film in the initial dream sequence up to the point where the two planes collide over the playground.

I have to admit, for years, I thought this song was recorded by Valens, but Ritchie died some months before it was written. By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie, rent it!

"Sleep Walk" was actually written, recorded and released in 1959 by the Italian-American rock and roll duo from Brooklyn, brothers Santo & Johnny Farina.

Santo and Johnny’s father was inspired to have the boys learn how to play the steel guitar after hearing one played on the radio. Their father found a music teacher from Hawaii who gave the boys steel guitar lessons.

Within two years, Santo was performing in amateur shows and by the age of fourteen, Santo was composing songs. When Johnny was twelve, he started to accompany Santo on guitar. They formed a duo and became rather popular in school, eventually performing at events in the New York boroughs. They added their uncle Mike Dee to the line up on drums and the trio started to appear at local dances and parties, performing both original compositions and some Hawaiian standards.  

Then, in 1958, “Mike Dee & The Mello Tones” (as they were officially calling themselves) recorded a self-penned instrumental which they called "Deep Sleep"(which ultimately became "Sleep Walk”). The brothers came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract and then eventually a music contract with Canadian-American Records. Their first release, "Sleep Walk”, was released and became huge hit! It was the last instrumental to hit number one in the 1950s and earned Santo & Johnny a gold record.

One other cool fact you might not know is that Santo & Johnny actually wrote lyrics for "Sleep Walk", but they never recorded a lyrical version.

At present, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny currently tours and records new material with his own band. Johnny is also the president of Aniraf, Inc., an international record company based in New York.

Back to “La Bamba!” WHEN you rent it, make sure to have plenty of tissues when you get to the scene with this song!