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.
School Day
Santo & Johnny Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nothing to do you say
Let's take a trip on memory's ship
Back to the bygone days
Sail to the old village school house
Anchor outside the school door
Look in and see, there's you and there's me
A couple of kids once more
School days, school days
Dear old golden rule days
Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick
You were my queen in calico
I was your bashful barefoot beau
And you wrote on my slate, "I love you, Joe"
When we were a couple of kids
'Member the hill, Nellie Darling
And the oak tree that grew on its brow
They've built forty storeys upon that old hill
And the oak's an old chestnut now
'Member the meadows so green, dear
So fragrant with clover and maize
Into new city lots and preferred bus'ness plots
They've cut them up since those days
School days, school days
Dear old golden rule days
Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick
You were my queen in calico
I was your bashful barefoot beau
And you wrote on my slate, "I love you, Joe"
When we were a couple of kids
The lyrics of Santo & Johnny's song "School Days" are a nostalgic and romantic journey back to the past. The song begins with the singers having nothing to do and deciding to take a trip down memory lane. They sail on "memory's ship" to their old village schoolhouse, where they look back on their childhood days. As they peer through the school door, they see themselves as children, and the song takes them on a journey of remembrance.
The lyrics of the song are filled with imagery and details of the past. The chorus talks about the "dear old golden rule days" when children were taught "to the tune of the hickory stick," referencing the discipline of corporal punishment. The singer also remembers a time when his love interest, Nellie, was his "queen in calico," and he was her "bashful barefoot beau." The song takes the listener through the different aspects of their memories, such as playing in the meadows and climbing hills, which have now been replaced by modern developments.
"School Days" is a timeless classic that reminds us of the simplicity of childhood and the loss of innocence that comes with growing up. The song speaks to anyone who has ever longed for a simpler time and a more carefree childhood. It is a beautiful musical representation of the yearning for days gone by.
Line by Line Meaning
Nothing to do, Nellie Darling
There is no activity, Nellie. We are idle.
Nothing to do you say
You agree and reiterate that there is nothing to do.
Let's take a trip on memory's ship
We should travel through our memories.
Back to the bygone days
Let's go back to the past.
Sail to the old village school house
Let's travel to our old school.
Anchor outside the school door
We should stop our journey outside the school entrance.
Look in and see, there's you and there's me
We should take a peek inside the school and reminisce about our time together.
A couple of kids once more
We should relive our childhood memories as though we were still kids.
School days, school days
These were our school days.
Dear old golden rule days
These were the days when we followed the golden rules.
Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic
We learned reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick
We were disciplined with the hickory stick.
You were my queen in calico
You were my queen and wore calico dresses.
I was your bashful barefoot beau
I was shy and in love with you, and I didn't wear shoes.
And you wrote on my slate, "I love you, Joe"
You wrote a message on my slate saying that you loved me, Joe.
When we were a couple of kids
These were the memories of when we were kids.
'Member the hill, Nellie Darling
Do you remember the hill, Nellie?
And the oak tree that grew on its brow
There was an oak tree on the top of the hill.
They've built forty storeys upon that old hill
Now, there are forty-story buildings on that hill.
And the oak's an old chestnut now
The oak tree is gone and has turned into an old chestnut.
'Member the meadows so green, dear
Do you remember the green meadows?
So fragrant with clover and maize
The meadows smelled sweet with clover and maize.
Into new city lots and preferred bus'ness plots
Those meadows were developed into new city lots and preferred business locations.
They've cut them up since those days
The meadows no longer exist since they were developed.
Lyrics © RICHARD HAYMAN D/B/A YORKVILLE MUSIC , Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: GUS EDWARDS, WILL COBB, WILL D. COBB
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind