"Sleep Walk" is an instrumental tune written, recorded, and released in 1959 by brothers Santo & Johnny Farina, with their uncle Mike Dee playing the drums. Prominently featuring steel guitar, the song was recorded at Trinity Music in Manhattan, New York City. "Sleep Walk" entered Billboard's Top 40 on August 17, 1959. It rose to the number 1 position for the last two weeksin September and remained in the Top 40 until November 9. "Sleep Walk" also reached number 4 on the R&B chart. It was the last instrumental to hit number one in the 1950s and earned a gold record for Santo and Johnny. In the UK it peaked at number 22 on the charts.
Background and recording
As children, both Santo and Johnny Farina were encouraged by their father, Tony, to learn the steel guitar and write their own music. This music would be recorded on a Webcortape recorder their father had bought for them. Unable to fall asleep one night after a gig, the Farina brothers decided to write some music, using the tape recorder to first record the harmonies to what would become "Sleep Walk". After adding and finalizing the steel guitar melody, Johnny Farina believed they had a hit song, so he spent a year and a half inquiring with various music publishers about the possibility of professionally recording "Sleep Walk". The "Sleep Walk" demo made a positive impression on Ed Burton of Trinity Music. After ultimately signing with Canadian-American Records, the brothers recorded "Sleep Walk" at Trinity Music, using a triple-neck Fender Stringmaster on the recording.
Release
"Sleep Walk" entered the BillboardHot 100 on July 27, 1959. Announced on the radio by disc jockeyAlan Freed, the instrumental rose in popularity until it became the number-one single for the last two weeks of September of that year. After losing the number-one position to Bobby Darin's recording of "Mack the Knife", the song remained on Billboard's Top 40 until November 1959.
Chart performance
All-time charts
Later versions
British group The Shadows recorded the tune for their 1961 album The Shadows. The Brian Setzer Orchestra recording of "Sleep Walk" received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998. "Sleep Walk" was a principal inspiration to Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green for his 1968 instrumental "Albatross", which became a worldwide hit. "Albatross" in turn inspired the Beatles song "Sun King" from Abbey Road. Larry Carlton covered the song on his 1982 album, Sleepwalk. The song "Sleepwalking " by the bandModest Mouse, from their 1996 EPInterstate 8, drew inspiration from "Sleep Walk" in its melody, with the main addition to the original being added vocals/lyrics. Deftones included "Sleep Walk" on their 2011 album Covers which is a compilation album of cover songs.
The song inspired Stephen King to write his first screenplay, for the 1992 horror film Sleepwalkers. The film features the song as well. The song was featured in several Hollywood productions, including the 1987 film La Bamba in the final scene, in the 2019 film The Irishman by Martin Scorsese, and a trailer to the 2019 film The Intruder.
