Santo & Johnny - "Sleepwalk"
Hit Number 1: September 21, 1959
Stay at Number 1: 2 Weeks
An instrumental really needs to be something awesome to ever hit the top of the charts. We saw that earlier this year with "The Happy Organ", which was a fun and fast bluesy piece of instrumental music. "Sleepwalk" isn't necessarily a super-exciting song, but it's a very lovely and peaceful instrumental, with a very prominent steel guitar. I imagine that it was a go-to song back in the day if you wanted to have a slow dance. At least, that's the image I think of whenever I hear this song.
Santo & Johnny never sang a single song of theirs. Instead, they were an instrumental duo only. When they were little, their father was drafted into the army, and was stationed in Oklahoma. He had heard a steel guitar on the radio, and reportedly said to his wife that he wanted the boys to learn that instrument. After WWII, their father found a music teacher to give them steel guitar lessons. Santo ended up taking off with the steel guitar, while Johnny played a more standard electric guitar. They ended up forming a duo, and began to perform at events in the New York Boroughs. They soon made a demonstration record to send to different recording companies in New York. But when they informed their father that they wanted to quit school to become "rock stars" their father told them "The only stars are in the sky." Despite that, they pursued their dream. Then one night, the boys couldn't sleep after one of their gigs, and started writing and playing a song deep into the night. That song, was "Sleepwalk". That's probably how it got it's name.
I guess the joke was on their dad, cause "Sleepwalk" ended up being a big hit, and hit the top spot on the charts for 2 weeks. The song helped get the boys a record deal with Canadian-American Records. Santo & Johnny did a lot of covers of famous songs too, along with their own material. They never had anything close to as big as "Sleepwalk" though. But that's fine, cause "Sleepwalk" is a fine song. There's nothing special going on, but there is steel guitar throughout the whole thing that I really like. The song gives you a feeling of peacefulness, and steadiness. There are no words, but the steel guitar says it all. This song is living proof that you don't need lyrics to make a good song.
GRADE: 7/10
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