Really great copy of this album from the first rock n' roll era.

Disc is high gloss. Deep groove label with great vibrancy and color. Vinyl is heavy and matches the weight of the time period. There is some play marking. Album was NOT played on a stacker, but has a few surface marks here and there. but none I can feel with my finger, and none are deep or intrusive. It looks beautiful in the light. In the run-out groove there are some scratches? And one goes slightly into the last track, but again, cannot feel it? This album should play beautifully once it is properly cleaned.

Cover is gorgeous! No bends, cracks, splits, writing, no ring-wear, nothing! Bright and crisp! Really glossy and THICK heavy stock. There is a tiny hardly noticeable staple hole in the corner, but must be looked at very close to see. This is the mono version.

Shipping for this auction is 5.50. We will invoice within 48 hours of auction close. Please wait until we have invoiced to pay. Anyone being sneaky and paying 2.50 (however this is done) will be charged 5.50 as that is our shipping rate. We ship in the Bags Unlimited heavy duty LP mailers, but not being a large business, we can't buy these in bulk at a cheap price. This album will be carefully secured with padding as well.

Santo & Johnny were an - from , , comprising brothers Santo and Johnny Farina.

They are best known for their "", which became a regional hit and eventually reached the top of the pop chart when it was released nationally in 1959.

At present, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny currently tours and records new material with his own band. Johnny is also the president of Aniraf, Inc., an international record company based in .

Contents Career Early life

Santo and Johnny Farina were born in , ; Santo on October 24, 1937 and Johnny on April 30, 1941. Their father was drafted into the while they were children and was stationed for some time in . After hearing a on the radio, he wrote to his wife, "I'd like the boys to learn to play this instrument".

Upon returning from , 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 , allowing him to play it like a .

Within two years, Santo was performing in amateur shows on a new six- steel guitar and had started receiving lessons from a steel guitar teacher who had studied in . By the age of fourteen, Santo was composing songs, and formed an trio with a and . 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 , one with three necks, each with eight . 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 . The brothers soon formed a duo and became rather popular in school, eventually performing at events in the New York boroughs. They recorded a which they circulated to local New York .

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" (, 1929), it had the same chord progression but a simpler melody line.[]

"Deep Sleep" became "" and in September 1959 it topped the American charts.

Music career

The brothers eventually came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract and eventually a contract with . 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 . "Sleep Walk" entered '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 . The follow-up song "Tear Drop" was also a hit, though their LP Santo & Johnny was less successful in the .

After touring , , and , Santo & Johnny signed to an record label and had several hits in Europe that included "", "Love Story", "", "", "", "Enchanted Sea", and others.[] In 1964, they released an album of covers; "" hit #1 in Mexico and held the spot for 21 weeks.[] In 1973, Santo & Johnny recorded the theme to the movie , which went to #1 in Italy and stayed at that spot for 21 weeks.[] They received a in Italy and were inducted into the Italian Music Hall of Fame.[]

Legacy

"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 , , , , , , ,, ,, , , , Larry Berwald, and . Indie group also covered the song with lyrics and entitled their version "Sleepwalkin'". A version by received a for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998. "Sleep Walk" was used throughout the 1992 film, . "Sleep Walk" also plays a role in the 1995 sci-fi film, . It is also played in the end scene of "" after protagonist dies. The song can also be heard in "" 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'. "Sleepwalk" inspired founder for his 1968 instrumental .

Santo & Johnny were inducted into The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2002.

Johnny Farina currently operates the official Santo And Johnny website, as well as the official Johnny MySpace page, which includes current tour dates, discography, biography, and audio samples from his new solo albums