like one big family of artists growing up in
the business. Alan ran a pretty tight ship, but
even though he was the boss, he just came
off as one of the boys, a regular guy from
the streets. All of us really respected him
for that.
Who were some of the performers who
would get the most screams?
They screamed for every teen idol that got
up onstage, like Paul Anka who had Diana
out at the time, and Bobby Rydell. I would
say, Frankie Avalon and Fabian got the most
screams. The girls always screamed for
Fabian. They screamed so loud you couldn’t
hear him sing, which was OK!
But I’ll bet you and Santo also got your
fair share of female adoration. Yes?
Well, outside of the theatre, there would
“THERE WERE A LOT OF GREAT RECORDS
MADE IN THE 50S, BUT AS SOON AS THEY
COME ON, THEY SOUND DATED”always be hundreds of girls, so none of us
could leave the theatre till after the last
show was over. The cops would tell you,
“Listen, you go out there and you’re gonna
get mobbed.” So we would send out for
things like hamburgers. This one day I
decided I’d sneak out the back way of the
theatre and go over to Junior’s, a famous
restaurant that was just around the corner.
I was very successful, part of the way, until
I headed right into a bunch of girls. So
I started running, and about 50 of them
jumped on top of me and started taking
off my clothes and my watch. When I got
back to the theatre and told the cops what
happened, they started laughing and said,
“We told you not to go out there!” I never
tried it again.When did you discover that John Lennon
liked your music?
There was a bootleg album I picked up
in Mexico of all places called A Toot
And A Snore In ’74. Stevie Wonder and
Paul McCartney were at the session. It
was actually the last time Lennon and
McCartney ever played together. Everyone
sounds like they’re partying and having a
great time, and Lennon gets out his acoustic
guitar and starts playing Sleep Walk.George Harrison apparently was a big
admirer of one of your other songs.
Yes. In 2009, eight years after George died,
they put out a CD of unreleased tracks
called Let It Roll. In the liner notes, there
was an annotation that read that Marwa
Blues was a homage to Santo & Johnny, a
gorgeous instrumental inspired by our song
Teardrop. I was very touched by that, and
had I known about it when he was in the
cancer hospital in Staten Island, I would
have offered to come there with my guitar
and play it for him in his room.I’m sure George would have been thrilled
to see you.
I know he would have loved it, and it would
have been real honour for me. Marwa Blues
is one song I would never try to play. It’s
so spiritual, and I feel it’s George’s song.
I would never try to touch it.You must have been more surprised
when someone as young as Miley Cyrusstarted posting about your song Love In
Space on her Instagram page.
My grandson’s friend sent a note to him
saying, “Boy, your grandpa is really famous.
Miley Cyrus is writing about him!” Then she
started writing to me saying how much the
song means to her, and that she wants me
personally to play it for her at her wedding.
I’m thinking, “How does she know about
Love In Space? It’s a song that I wrote with
Santo when I was 16. We recorded it on an
album and never played it again.” So after
she started giving the song a lot of publicity,
I went back in the studio to relearn it, and
then added it to my “live” show.Of all the versions of Sleep Walk, can you
name a few of your personal favourites?
I like Larry Carlton’s interpretation. It was
jazzy, but he still kept the original feel of
the song. I like Jeff Beck’s a lot. Brian Setzer
took it to another place. Chet Atkins did a
nice version. Les Paul did his own take on
it. It’s hard to say which ones are the best.
They all did their best interpretations that
came from their hearts.What do you most account for the song’s
enduring popularity?
You know, there were a lot of great records
made in the 50s, but as soon as they come
on, they immediately sound dated.
Sleep Walk is one of the few songs from
that era that still sounds timeless. To make
it in this business the way Santo and I did
was like winning the lottery or getting
hit by lightning. There are thousands and
thousands of people who write songs and
play guitar, but you need to have something
unique, a special identity, where people will
immediately say, “That’s them.”It seems that Sleep Walk’s fame will
endure long after you and Santo
are gone.
I really believe so. There’s a very well-
known doctor, Warren Yates, who I met
at the Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame. He says
to me, “Do you know that you and Santo
are like Mozart?” I said “Why?” He said,
“Because you guys created a song that’s
going to last hundreds of years, and when
people read, ‘Who wrote that song?’ it’ll
say, ‘Two Italian-American brothers
from Brooklyn.’”Santo & Johnny