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.
Dream Lover
Santo & Johnny Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A dream lover will come my way
A girl to hold in my arms
And know the magic of her charms
'Cause I want
A girl
To call
My own
So I don't have to dream alone
Dream lover, where are you
With a love, oh, so true
And the hand that I can hold
To feel you near as I grow old
'Cause I want
A girl
To call
My own
I want a dream lover
So I don't have to dream alone
Someday, I don't know how
I hope she'll hear my plea
Some way, I don't know how
She'll bring her love to me
Dream lover, until then
I'll go to sleep and dream again
That's the only thing to do
Till all my lover's dreams come true
'Cause I want
A girl
To call
My own
I want a dream lover
So I don't have to dream alone
Dream lover, until then
I'll go to sleep and dream again
That's the only thing to do
Till all my lover's dreams come true
'Cause I want
A girl
To call
My own
I want a dream lover
So I don't have to dream alone
Please don't make me dream alone
I beg you don't make me dream alone
No, I don't wanna dream
The lyrics to Santo & Johnny's song, Dream Lover, speak to the universal desire to find true love and companionship. The singer sings of his nightly hopes and prayers for a Dream Lover to come his way, someone to hold in his arms and experience the magic of her charms. He longs for a girl to call his own, so he no longer has to dream alone. He pleads for his dream lover to hear his plea and bring her love to him, so he can finally be complete.
The repetition of the chorus emphasizes the singer's longing for his dream lover and the desperation he feels to find her. The final plea, "Please don't make me dream alone, I beg you don't make me dream alone, No, I don't wanna dream," sums up the singer's deep desire for companionship, and his fear of being alone forever.
Overall, Dream Lover is a simple but heartfelt love song that explores the universal desire for true love and companionship. The repeated chorus and straight-forward lyrics capture the hope and desperation of someone searching for their dream lover.
Line by Line Meaning
Every night I hope and pray
Every night, I wish and ask for a dream lover.
A dream lover will come my way
I hope that a dream lover will appear and become mine.
A girl to hold in my arms
I want a girl to hold in my arms tightly.
And know the magic of her charms
I want to experience the enchantment of her charms and personality.
'Cause I want
I want
A girl
A girl
To call
To call
My own
My own
I want a dream lover
I want a lover who I dream of
So I don't have to dream alone
To prevent myself from dreaming alone
Dream lover, where are you
Hey dream lover! Where are you?
With a love, oh, so true
When you arrive, your love will be loyal and genuine.
And the hand that I can hold
I want you to hold my hand tightly when we're together.
To feel you near as I grow old
I want you to feel near me so that I can age peacefully.
'Cause I want
I want
A girl
A girl
To call
To call
My own
My own
I want a dream lover
I want a lover who I dream of.
So I don't have to dream alone
So that I don't dream by myself.
Someday, I don't know how
At some point, I hope that a dream lover will be mine without understanding how.
I hope she'll hear my plea
I hope she hears me calling out to her.
Some way, I don't know how
I don't know how, but there has to be a way.
She'll bring her love to me
She'll arrive with her love, which will bring me happiness.
Dream lover, until then
Until my dream lover arrives.
I'll go to sleep and dream again
I'll just keep dreaming while I sleep until she comes.
That's the only thing to do
That's my only option.
Till all my lover's dreams come true
Until all my dreams about my lover come true.
'Cause I want
I want
A girl
A girl
To call
To call
My own
My own
I want a dream lover
I want a lover who I dream of
So I don't have to dream alone
To prevent myself from dreaming alone.
Dream lover, until then
Until my dream lover arrives.
I'll go to sleep and dream again
I'll just keep dreaming while I sleep until she comes.
That's the only thing to do
That's my only option.
Till all my lover's dreams come true
Until all my dreams about my lover come true.
'Cause I want
I want
A girl
A girl
To call
To call
My own
My own
I want a dream lover
I want a lover who I dream of.
So I don't have to dream alone
To prevent myself from dreaming alone.
Please don't make me dream alone
I'm pleading with you not to make me continue dreaming alone.
I beg you don't make me dream alone
I'm begging you not to make me dream alone.
No, I don't wanna dream
I don't want to dream alone anymore.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Bobby Darin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind