from the album
Santo & Johnny
"Sleep Walk" is an instrumental steel guitar-based song
recorded and released in 1959 by brothers Santo & Johnny.
The song was composed by Santo and Johnny Farina as well. (The
original single credits three Farinas, including an "Ann
Farina" for the composition. It is sometimes reported that
their mother or sister helped, but this is apparently false.)
It was recorded at Trinity Music in Manhattan. "Sleep Walk"
entered 's 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 and 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) in 1959. While Santo & Johnny wrote
lyrics for "Sleep Walk", they never recorded a lyrical version,
but Betsy Brye's version included these lyrics.
It has been also covered by Brian Setzer Orchestra, Al
Kooper doing the guitar part on synthesizer, Paul Mauriat, The
Shadows, The Ventures, Jake Shimabukuro, Larry Carlton,
Deftones, Leo Kottke, Hapa, Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, B. J.
Cole, Micah P. Hinson, Amos Garrett, Steve Howe ("Quantum
guitar" rec. 1996, Henri Rene, Jonathan Richman, Jeff Beck, Joe
Satriani,
Brian Setzer's recording received a Grammy Award for Best
Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998.
In America, Country Music Hall of Famer Jimmy Russell
recorded his version of Sleepwalk in 2001.
In Europe, French award-winning guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel
had a Top 20 hit with his instrumental version of the song
recorded in 2006.
Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, The Raveonettes have all
recorded adaptions of the song with lyrics.
"Sleep Walk" has remained popular due to consistent radio
airplay as well as its usage in commercials, television shows,
and movies.
The song appears prominently at the end of the 1987 film,
La Bamba, during Ritchie Valens' funeral and the
subsequent scene of his brother, Bob, screaming Ritchie's name
to the heavens. The song 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. It is probably due to
its usage in this film that some people associate the song with
Valens, who died some months before it was written.
The song was used in the 1992 Stephen King film,
Sleepwalkers. In the 1995 film,
Twelve Monkeys, the song plays over the car radio during
a scene in which psychiatrist, Dr. Kathryn Railly, has been
abducted by time traveler and mentally divergent, James Cole.
The song was also used in Stacy Peralta's 2004 surf
documentary,
Riding Giants.
Recently, the song was played in the movie
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttleand in the television
series
Heroesepisode " 1961". It is played during a flashback
to that time period.