They are best known for their instrumental "Sleep Walk", which became a regional hit and eventually reached the top of the Billboard pop chart when it was released nationally in 1959.
At present, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny 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.
Santo and Johnny Farina were born in Brooklyn, New York; Santo on October 24, 1937 and Johnny on April 30, 1941. Their father was drafted into the Army while they were children and was stationed for some time in Oklahoma. After hearing a steel guitar on the radio, he wrote to his wife, "I'd like the boys to learn to play this instrument".
Upon returning from World War II, the boys' father found a music teacher who gave the boys steel guitar lessons. When Santo was a teenager, he was able to get a local music store to modify an acoustic guitar, allowing him to play it like a steel guitar.
Within two years, Santo was performing in amateur shows on a new Gibson six-string steel guitar and had started receiving lessons from a steel guitar teacher who had studied in Hawaii. By the age of fourteen, Santo was composing songs, and formed an instrumental trio with a guitarist and drummer. This trio appeared at local dances and parties, performing both original compositions and some Hawaiian standards. With money Santo made from these performances, he bought a Fender steel guitar, one with three necks, each with eight strings. This allowed him to experiment even further, and he tried different tunings until he found ones that appealed to him.
When Johnny reached the age of twelve, he began to play accompaniment to Santo on a standard electric guitar. The brothers soon formed a duo and became rather popular in school, eventually performing at events in the New York boroughs. They recorded a demo which they circulated to local New York record companies.
In 1958, Mike Dee & The Mello Tones (Santo Farina, steel guitar; Johnny Farina, guitar and their uncle Mike Dee, drums) recorded a self-penned instrumental which they called "Deep Sleep". Loosely inspired by the song "Softly, As In The Morning Sunrise" (Sigmund Romberg, 1929), it had the same chord progression but a simpler melody line.
"Deep Sleep" became "Sleep Walk" and in September 1959 it topped the American charts.
The brothers eventually came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract and eventually a contract with Canadian-American Records. Their first release, "Sleep Walk", was composed by the two brothers. (The original single credits three Farinas, including an "A. Farina" for the composition. It's sometimes reported that their mother or sister helped, but this is apparently false.) It was recorded at Trinity Records in Manhattan. "Sleep Walk" entered Billboard's 'Top 40' on August 17, 1959. It rose to the No. 1 position for two weeks in September (the 21st and the 28th) and remained in the 'Top 40' list until November 9. It was the last instrumental to hit #1 in the 1950s and earned Santo & Johnny a gold record. The follow-up song "Tear Drop" was also a hit, though their LP Santo & Johnny was less successful in the United States.
After touring Europe, Mexico, and Australia, Santo & Johnny signed to an Italian record label and had several hits in Europe that included "Sleep Walk", "Love Story", "Maria Elena", "Ebb Tide", "Love is Blue", "Enchanted Sea", and others.[citation needed] In 1964, they released an album of The Beatles covers; "And I Love Her" hit #1 in Mexico and held the spot for 21 weeks. In 1973, Santo & Johnny recorded the theme to the movie The Godfather, which went to #1 in Italy and stayed at that spot for 21 weeks. They received a gold record in Italy and were inducted into the Italian Music Hall of Fame.
Johnny Farina currently operates the official Santo And Johnny worldwide website, which includes current tour dates, discography, biography, trivia and new merchandise Farina also currently operates the official Johnny MySpace page, which includes current tour dates, discography, biography, and audio samples from his new solo albums.
"Sleep Walk" continues to be popular due to consistent radio airplay as well as its usage in commercials, television shows, and movies. 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 The Shadows, Stray Cats, The Ventures, Jake Shimabukuro, Amos Garrett, Kenny Vance and the Planotones, Larry Carlton, Deftones, Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, Leo Kottke, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Jonathan Richman, Larry Berwald, and Joe Satriani. Indie group Modest Mouse also covered the song with lyrics and entitled their version "Sleepwalkin'". A version by Brian Setzer received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998. "Sleep Walk" was used throughout the 1992 Stephen King film, Sleepwalkers. "Sleep Walk" also plays a role in the 1995 Terry Gilliam sci-fi film, 12 Monkeys. It is also played in the end scene of "La Bamba" after protagonist Ritchie Valens dies. The song can also be heard in "Eddie and the Cruisers" as well as in the film "Hearts in Atlantis" starring Anthony Hopkins. Tim Kring's 'Heroes' which aired on NBC also featured "Sleep Walk" playing on a record in a diner, from the episode '1961'.
Santo & Johnny were inducted into The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2002.
Deep Purple
Santo & Johnny Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo
When the deep purple falls
Over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in the night
In the mist of a memory
Breathing my name with a sigh
In the still of the night
Once again I hold you tight
Tho' you're gone your love lives on when light beams
And as long as my heart will beat
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
When the deep purple falls
Over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle
In the night
In the mist of a memory
You wander all back to me
Breathing my name with a sigh
In the still of the night
Once again I hold you tight
Tho' you're gone your love lives on when moonlight beams
And as long as my heart will beat
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
And as long as my heart will beat
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo
Santo & Johnny's song "Deep Purple" is a classic instrumental piece, with no lyrics, but it was later adapted with added lyrics by Mitchell Parish. The lyrics, which are simple and sweet, show the nostalgic longing of the singer for a past love. The song describes how the deep purple of the night can bring back memories of a past love and how the love still lives on even though the person is gone. The singer remembers holding the loved one in the still of the night and longs for their return, but until then, they will meet in the singer's deep purple dreams.
The song conveys a sense of yearning, as the singer recalls the past, which adds a melancholy tone to the melody. The words and melody complement each other perfectly, enhancing the emotions and making the listener feel the wistfulness and longing of the singer. The song is a beautiful piece of music that captures the essence of nostalgia and lost love in a way that can be universally appreciated.
Line by Line Meaning
When the deep purple falls
When night falls and everything is quiet
Over sleepy garden walls
Over quiet garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in the night
And the stars become visible in the sky
In the mist of a memory
In the haze of a memory
You wander all back to me
You come back to me in my memory
Breathing my name with a sigh
Remembering and sighing my name
In the still of the night
In the quietness of night
Once again I hold you tight
I imagine holding you tightly again
Tho' you're gone your love lives on when moonlight beams
Though you're gone, the memory of your love lives on when the moonlight shines
And as long as my heart will beat
As long as I live
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
We'll always meet in memory
Here in my deep purple dreams
In my dreams of that deep purple night
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Peter De Rose, Mitchell Parish
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Seiter b0b0
Conocer a Santo and Jhonny fue una de las mejores cosas que me pasó en la vida, todas sus canciones son hermosas y de alguna manera me transmiten ciertos sentimientos lml
Luca Vidal
Estando en la feria y escuchando esta música , le pedí a mi esposa que fuera mi Novia en Marzo de 1969 , hace 50 años y desde entonces es nuestro tema .
Seiter b0b0
Hermoso ❤️
Móni Moral
👏👏👏👏👏
Veronica Juarez
2019 and this is the sweetest music! 🤗🎶🎵
Victoraguilar on IG
i love santo and johnny they're just so relaxing to listen to
Raul vela fernandez
Hermosa melodía. La mejor del LP. Inolvidable
Betty Edgemon
I love their music, brings back so many memories of days gone by.
Alfredo Flotes
cuando escuche por primera vez esta melodia me facino,auque en ese entonses no supe como se llamo esta melodia.pero me dejo marcado de por vida y anos despues supe que santo &johnny farina quenes tocaban deep purple y ahora no puedo dejar de disfrutarla
Bob Rule, Jr.
One of my all time favorite songs, this version is one of the best!