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Tom Bradshaw has a lengthy bio of Santo and Johnny in his catalog of steel guitar products. He discusses Santo's career as a steel guitarist in some detail... and he discusses Johnny's guitar playing. Tom reviews 2 of the duos albums, and 1 of Santo's solo steel guitar albums. He mentions Santo's steel guitar playing many times. Johnny is pictured holding a guitar in the photos... the same Johnny who is pictured on the current website playing steel. Seems that Johnny has recently re-recorded Sleepwalk... and he plays steel now, but the sound that you refer to in your original post was not played by Johnny Farina. No big deal... it's still a great sound!

As far as the tone the steel guitar in Sleepwalk, I'd describe it as thin and soulful, and without a lot of sustain. Probably a combination of the instrument, the pickup, the amp, and most importantly, the mind and hands of the player.

dougb
www.dougbsteel.com

I play it on C6th, but there's one run that just doesn't sound right to me. It's when you play the 3 string lick right after the first 2 single notes of the melody. I just grab the A, C & E strings at the 5th fret(then move to 7, 8, 7, 5). Something about it, just seems a little wrong. Any ideas?

Here's something to think about. I recall Santo quoted somewhere--can't remember where but I think it was in a Guitar Player publication or CD, or a review of one--saying he played Sleep Walk in C#minor tuning on the original recording. As I recall, he went on to say he could play it in any tuning, but that was the one he used on the recording.

I have never tried the C# minor tuning. However, I have the original Sleep Walk on "Rock Instrumental Classics" Rhino CD R2 71601 and the pitch is definitely C#, not C, which is where everyone else seems to play it. By the way, I think it lays really nice in C6th. I like to play the first note on the 2nd (C) string 12th fret which makes for a nice slide down to the double stop at fret 7.

Also, in the earliest publicity photos Santo is playing a Dual 8 Professional, so it seems likely that is what he used on Sleep Walk.

[This message was edited by Bob Stone on 07 March 2000 at 06:25 AM.]