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Brothers Santo and Johnny Farina were born in Brooklyn, New York; Santo on October 24th, 1937 and Johnny on April 30th, 1941.
As a boy Santo Farina frequently listened to country radio show "Hometown Frolics," and grew to love the sound of the steel guitar.
Santo went to a local music store and asked them to modify an acoustic guitar to allow him to play it like a steel guitar.
Santo was thrilled with the sounds he could produce on his new guitar and practiced day and night. Within two years he was performing in amateur shows on his new Gibson six-string steel guitar.
Soon after, he took a few lessons from a steel guitar teacher who had studied the art in Hawaii.
In 1952, at the age of fourteen, Santo formed an instrumental trio with a guitarist and a drummer. By this time he was composing songs of his own and played these along with the hits of the day. He also included a few Hawaiian standards when the trio played at local dances and parties. With the money he made from performing he purchased another steel guitar. This one had three necks, each with eight strings. He experimented with the additional two strings until he came up with tunings 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.
The brothers came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract. This led to a signing with Canadian-American Records. Their first release Sleepwalk was composed by the brothers and reached #1 on the American charts in August 1959. The record became a huge hit worldwide and remains a classic instrumental to this day. The original title had been Deep Sleep but was changed to Sleepwalk prior to release.
Following on from the success of Sleepwalk, the brothers were booked on coast-to-coast tours and television shows.
Their first album Santo & Johnny was also a hit as was their second single, Teardrop.
After touring Europe, Mexico, and Australia, Santo & Johnny signed to an Italian record label and scored several hits in Europe that included Sleepwalk, Love Story, Maria Elena, Ebb Tide, Love is Blue and others.
In 1964, they issued an album of 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 there for 21 weeks.
They received a gold record in Italy and were inducted into the Italian Music Hall of Fame.
They continued recording and releasing albums until 1976, after which Santo began a solo career.
1999 was a great year for Sleepwalk; it earned BMI’s Millionaires Award, which symbolizes 2 million airplays on the radio. A version by the Brian Setzer Orchestra earned the song a Grammy for best instrumental in 1999, and 2002 saw "The Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame" induct "Santo & Johnny".
Hanging proudly on his wall, Johnny has 2 Gold Records for Sleepwalk & one for The Godfather.
Santo has retired from active performing, while Johnny has kept the magical steel guitar sound alive performing as a solo artist all over the country.
Santo & Johnny website
As a boy Santo Farina frequently listened to country radio show "Hometown Frolics," and grew to love the sound of the steel guitar.
Santo went to a local music store and asked them to modify an acoustic guitar to allow him to play it like a steel guitar.
Santo was thrilled with the sounds he could produce on his new guitar and practiced day and night. Within two years he was performing in amateur shows on his new Gibson six-string steel guitar.
Soon after, he took a few lessons from a steel guitar teacher who had studied the art in Hawaii.
In 1952, at the age of fourteen, Santo formed an instrumental trio with a guitarist and a drummer. By this time he was composing songs of his own and played these along with the hits of the day. He also included a few Hawaiian standards when the trio played at local dances and parties. With the money he made from performing he purchased another steel guitar. This one had three necks, each with eight strings. He experimented with the additional two strings until he came up with tunings 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.
The brothers came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract. This led to a signing with Canadian-American Records. Their first release Sleepwalk was composed by the brothers and reached #1 on the American charts in August 1959. The record became a huge hit worldwide and remains a classic instrumental to this day. The original title had been Deep Sleep but was changed to Sleepwalk prior to release.
Following on from the success of Sleepwalk, the brothers were booked on coast-to-coast tours and television shows.
Their first album Santo & Johnny was also a hit as was their second single, Teardrop.
After touring Europe, Mexico, and Australia, Santo & Johnny signed to an Italian record label and scored several hits in Europe that included Sleepwalk, Love Story, Maria Elena, Ebb Tide, Love is Blue and others.
In 1964, they issued an album of 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 there for 21 weeks.
They received a gold record in Italy and were inducted into the Italian Music Hall of Fame.
They continued recording and releasing albums until 1976, after which Santo began a solo career.
1999 was a great year for Sleepwalk; it earned BMI’s Millionaires Award, which symbolizes 2 million airplays on the radio. A version by the Brian Setzer Orchestra earned the song a Grammy for best instrumental in 1999, and 2002 saw "The Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame" induct "Santo & Johnny".
Hanging proudly on his wall, Johnny has 2 Gold Records for Sleepwalk & one for The Godfather.
Santo has retired from active performing, while Johnny has kept the magical steel guitar sound alive performing as a solo artist all over the country.
Santo & Johnny website
S A N T O & J O H N N Y
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