If you watch a movie about the 1950s or early 1960s, it is likely that at some point you will hear a familiar instrumental song that you recognize but might not know its name. If you have wondered about the story behind the familiar song with the steel guitar, the name of the song is “Sleep Walk,” written and recorded by brothers Santo & Johnny Farina in 1959.
“Sleep Walk” was recorded at the end of the 1950s, so the song was probably still playing on the radio as the 1960s began. And in retrospect, it seems like it was a last gasp of capturing the perceived innocence of the 1950s before the start of the turbulent changes of the 1960s, as well as following the tradition of 1950s instrumental guitar songs. Perhaps those reasons are why “Sleep Walk” is so often used in movies to evoke the 1950s, such as when the song pops up at the end of La Bamba (1987) after Ritchie Valens’s family learns of his death in February 1959.
In this video, Santo and Johnny perform the song on the August 1, 1959 episode of the Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. Dick Clark tells how the brothers wrote the song at 2:00 a.m. after one brother woke up the other because he had the idea for the song in his head (although another article reports merely that the brothers stayed up late to write the song). The story about the late hour explains the name of the song.
For more information about Santo & Johnny and “Sleep Walk,” Johnny Farina is interviewed by Tom Meros in this video below. Johnny gives some background on how his father encouraged the brothers to learn the steel guitar.
Although everyone knows the Santo & Johnny version, others have covered the song, including My Morning Jacket and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Blake Mills and Carlos Santana play that version you hear in La Bamba.
In this video, Garrison Keillor introduces Chet Atkins and Leo Kottke playing a sweet version of “Sleepwalk.” Check it out.
We love the song as an instrumental piece. But that has not stopped some folks from trying to add words.
Modest Mouse turned the instrumental into “Sleeepwalkin'” on their 1999 album Building Nothing Out of Something when they added some lyrics. Check it out.
About.com explains that a jazz standard “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise” inspired “Sleep Walk.” But Farina disputes the existence of any relationship between the two tunes.
Farina explained, “It’s not even close to it, really, if you listen to the two. But it’s become part of the mystique of the song.” Listen to Michael Brecker’s take on “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise” and judge for yourself.
Farina, however, does note that “Sleep Walk” has inspired others. For example, the tune inspired John Lennon to write “Free as a Bird.”
Lennon’s song was later made into a Beatles song by the other Beatles after Lennon’s death. You can definitely hear a little “Sleep Walk” in “Free as a Bird.”
In addition to La Bamba, “Sleep Walk” has appeared in other movies like Coupe de Ville (1990), Mermaids (1990), Jack (1996), The Butcher Boy (1997), Hearts in Atlantis (2001), and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003). The tune also pops up in television shows like Mad Men, Heroes, Ken Burns’s Baseball series, and Quantum Leap.
Santo and Johnny, fortunately, are still with us. According to Wikipedia, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny still tours and records. I am not quite sure what it is about “Sleep Walk” that makes us automatically think of the certain time period of 1950s America. But Santo & Johnny certainly captured a certain time as well as a certain sleepy feeling.
What is your favorite use of “Sleep Walk”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
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