Listen To:


Selected MP3s of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, and classic easy listening from the original vinyl.

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Guitars & All That Jazz was a radio station that webcast via Live365 for 11 years, ending in June 2011. The playlist consisted of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, early rock 'n' roll, lounge music and classic easy listening.

I hope to share some of this music with you via this blog. Most of it will be taken from the original vinyl (LPs and 45s) , cassettes and the occasional commercially unavailable CD.

Here's hoping you'll find something to enjoy. Please note files are available only for a limited time.

I urge you to purchase the digital version of the albums featured, either on CD or via download, wherever possible.

Listen to the Music
There are now two music streams. Click the appropriate player to the right.
1. Guitars & All That Jazz: Five hours of the best in jazz, guitars and other instrumental gems. New songs are added weekly.
2. Tiki Shores: Music to sweep you away to a tropical isle, a South American dance floor or a bossa nova on the beach at Rio. About 4.5 hours of classic exotica music, Latin rhythms and bossa nova.
Powered By Blogger

Saturday, July 05, 2014

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.


No comments:

Post a Comment