The British Steelies Society

He certainly talks the talk (and how)... but when it comes to the walk...

SteelieAJK wrote:He certainly talks the talk (and how)... but when it comes to the walk...

He sleeps.

he should walk as far as he can from a steel guitar

I wrote about this quite extensively in the March 2007 issue of Aloha Dream part of which was this:

In 1976, the duo disbanded.
In 1999, “Sleepwalk” earned BMI’s Millionaires Award, which symbolizes two million airplays on the radio. A version of ‘Sleepwalk’ by the Brian Setzer Orchestra earned the song a Grammy for best instrumental in1999.
Because of constant radio airplay, along with numerous TV show, movie & commercial inclusions, “Sleepwalk” continues to be one of the most popular & quickly recognized instrumentals of the 20th century.
Santo Farina continued as a solo act for a period (after 1976) but has since retired from active performing.
In 2002 Santo & Johnny were inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. Johnny accepted the award.

Johnny Farina continues to perform his rather lame version of the hit and many other recognizable standards in his shows and continues to make appearances all over the country. His appearances have included venues such as the Paramount Theater in New York City, the Meadowlands in New Jersey, Madison Square Garden in New York City and Harrah’s in Las Vegas.
With Johnny touring america and promoting HIMSELF as the sound of “sleepwalk” Future generations MAY grow to forget just who it was that played the Steel Guitar in the ORIGINAL hit recording.
I can’t imagine a similar scenario in any other award system where the sidesman gets the award for the soloist. Imagine Freddie Green getting an award for one of Count Basie’s recordings !, and Freddie WAS a legendary Rhythm Guitarist.



The plaque reads :- “ In 1959 this duo recorded steel’s only gold record. While introducing the instrument to the Rock ‘N’ Roll genre.
Heard in countless movies and commercials, it has been steel’s only Grammy winner (1999), the most recorded, and the all-time most popular instrumental, “Sleepwalk”.
The brothers achieved international stardom, released over 40 albums, and had # 1 hits in Mexico and Italy. Their music expanded the appreciation for the steel guitar.
Basil.
(Vitriolic and Sardonic as usual)

The relevant pages from the March 2007 issue of aloha Dream

I'm very relieved that at last i'm not on my own thinking that Johnny is a poor copy of his brother. I often wonder where the royalties go for sales and 'mechanicals'. The last I heard, Santo was living a semi bohemian existence somewhere in Northern Italy. In my article I have used quotation marks around Sleepwalk: Sleep Walk is the correct title but as I was quoting verbatim from sleeve notes etc I had to deliberately misspell it..
Strange that it was spelled correctly on the Sleeve and also the single but, almost without exception, track listings get it wrong.

Basil,
thank you for posting such a comprehensive analysis of this tune. It has always been a favourite of mine. I think it must have imprinted a love of steel guitar on me at first hearing. One day I'd like to be able to play this and your breakdown of the song will help, no end. Johnny's version does it no justice at all, quite sad really.