Santo & Johnny - Come On In

The one Santo & Johnny song anyone remembers these days is Sleep Walk, their chart-topping hit from 1959. But Santo and Johnny Farina recorded prolifically for the Canadian-American label between 1959 and 1965, releasing 10 albums and dozens of singles. Among the 45s, only the immediate followup to Sleepwalk, Tear Drop, was a sizable hit. Their first several albums also were big sellers.

Santo & Johnny later took their combination of steel and electric guitar to the Imperial label for several LPs and then went on to make many more recordings in Italy where they were immensely popular.

Come On In was released on Canadian-American in 1962 and among the dozen tracks was Along the Navajo Trail, the title song from a 1945 Roy Rogers cowboy movie. Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters had the big hit recording.

Along the Navajo Trail



As you can hear, Come On In backed the Farina brothers guitars with a large orchestra (conducted by Hutch Davie), not altogether successfully in some cases.

Santo & Johnny's Canadian-American recordings have been repackaged endlessly on CD and as downloads. Apparently the label's masters have been lost, so the quality of the reissues varies considerably. Proceed with caution is about the best advice I can give.

A Word About Spelling: You've probably noticed that the title of Sleep Walk is sometimes two words and others it's one. The same applies to the followup, Tear Drop. These titles were two words on the initial Santo & Johnny single releases but when the corresponding LPs were issued Sleepwalk and Teardrop had been condensed into one word. The confusion has endured ever since.

The Farina Brothers tapped into exotica music and tiki culture with their 1964 Canadian-American album Off Shore, which included Ebb Tide. It was also released as a single.

Uncredited - Wheels (cassette track)

One wonders what the targeted market was for Pop Jewels, a grab bag cassette of cover versions of instrumentals that were hits in the 1950s and '60s. Admittedly there are some pretty decent guitar instrumentals here -- eg., Ghost Riders in the Sky (original: Ramrods), Apache (Jorgen Ingmann) and Dance with the Devil (Cozy Powell). But with the originals of all of these readily available who exactly is going to buy this except for obsessive collectors.

This collection also includes its share of dreck including two songs you hope never to hear again -- Dance Little Bird (otherwise known as Bird Dance, Chicken Dance, etc.) and the repetitive electronic bleating of Popcorn.

It's obviously not the same group playing all 12 tunes as they vary greatly in instrumentation, sound quality and musical expertise.

I've always liked the String-A-Longs hit Wheels (1961). The version by Billy Vaughn is OK, too. But the one on Pop Jewels has to be heard to be believed. It's only a bit over two minutes but it seems to plod on forever, complete with fluffs by the guitarist and electronic strings that are so far in the background that they sound like the wind whistling through a crack in a leaky window. Picture a Legion or Elks hall on a Friday-Saturday night in the '60s and you'll get the idea.

Wheels



Pop Jewels was put out by the Quebec-based Madacy label, probably in the early 1980s, although there's no date or any recording information on the insert. It was sold mainly in discount stores. Watch those thrift store bins for your own personal copy.

For those of you who've stuck with me this far here's the String-a-Longs original of Wheels.

Carl Perkins - Born to Rock

Born to Rock (Universal, 1989) came late in the career of quintessential rockabilly performer Carl Perkins (1932-1998). Although the music on this album can't be compared with his ground-breaking performances in the 1950s it's not an embarrassment either.

In fact Perkins seems rejuvenated on the 10 tracks that range from bluesy country to out-and-out rockers. The album was produced by two gentlemen associated with The Judds -- producer Brent Maher and bandleader Don Potter. Below is the title track from Born to Rock.

Born to Rock



Born to Rock was issued in all three formats -- CD, cassette and vinyl (at least in some countries) -- but has long been deleted and has not been reissued. A legal download version doesn't exist, either. But there are numerous cheap used copies available on Amazon. It's well worth picking up.

Here's Carl Perkins performing Born to Rock on Austin City Limits (PBS) in 1990.

Sounds Like Santo & Johnny No. 1

Who exactly would buy an album like this, aside from collectors of the obscure, is beyond me. Surely no one in the 1960s would have picked this up thinking they were getting the real Santo & Johnny, the duo behind the massive 1959 hit Sleepwalk.

And how does a company make money on something like this? Granted the uncredited musicians were probably paid a pittance, but those are real strings in there, so the session costs must have been fairly substantial. Then there are the costs of manufacturing and distribution. Royalty payments to composers were probably an afterthought.

In any case the results bear some resemblance to the real Santo & Johnny, and the album does have a version of Sleepwalk plus other tunes the duo recorded like Ebb Tide and Enchanted Sea.

Origins of the recording are obscure. The cassette I have is from Spain, on the Senn-Sound label, but the music appears to be licensed from a British company. The album was also released in Italy, where Santo & Johnny had a substantial following. There was a version on LP as well, but the track listing appears to have been slightly different.

The physical quality of the cassette is not the greatest and it appears to have been manufactured very cheaply, so bear that in mind when listening to the sample track, Lady Mary. I believe this is the same traditional tune recorded in the '60s by Joan Baez and The Seekers.

Lady Mary



Lady Mary and other tracks on Sounds Like Santo & Johnny No. 1 have interesting arrangements and I'd love to hear a good quality recording of the album. It apparently sold well enough because there was a No. 2, pictured in the 8-track version below. I have not heard it.

And finally, a taste of the real thing -- Santo & Johnny appearing on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall in 1959. They perform both Sleepwalk and the single's flip side, All Night Diner.

Gale Storm - I Hear You Knocking

Actress and pop singer Gale Storm (1922-2009) is little remembered today, either for her movie and TV work or her hit recordings in the 1950s.

In the '50s Storm was a TV star with her series My Little Margie and later The Gale Storm Show. Her singing appearance on something called the Comedy Hour Show caught the attention of Randy Wood, the head of Dot Records and he signed her to the label.

Like Pat Boone, her label mate at Dot, much of Storm's early recording success was based on her covers of rhythm-and-blues hits. Her first, and biggest, hit was a version of I Hear You Knocking, which Smiley Lewis took into the R-and-B charts in the summer of 1955. Storm's recording, released in the fall of that year, reached No. 2 on Billboard's pop singles chart.



Gale Storm's success on the pop charts was brief. Her last hit, Dark Moon, came less than two years after I Hear You Knocking.

Storm's hits were gathered on a 1995 CD from Varese Sarabande, Dark Moon: The Best of Gale Storm.

This out-of-print release commands premier prices. The cheapest I've seem recently was $22 -- for a used copy! There are other options, however.

The best of these would be two collections from the European label Jasmine, available both on CD and as downloads. There may be some duplication on the tracks, so check before buying both.

Other downloads of Storm's recordings exist, but they are likely inferior in quality.

Here's Storm performing I Hear You Knocking on a 1950s TV show.