Product Description
“Sleep Walk” is an instrumental song 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 weeks in 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 Santo & Johnny a gold record. In the UK it peaked at number 22 on the charts.
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. The song’s melody was also interpolated on “Sleepwalking”, a song by Modest Mouse from their EP Interstate 8.
