Deke Dickerson tracks down Santo

[Andy Volk]

Deke has done all of us a great service in his interviews with seminal musicians like Santo. Having the chance to interview people like Nato Lima, Ralph Kolsiana, Don Helms, etc. certainly affected my life in a very profound way and it's clear just how much speaking to these greats means to Deke. Kudos, Deke!

FROM DEKE'S FB POST TODAY:

I had an address on Long Island. I wasn’t even sure it was the right Santo. Way off the beaten path, I pulled up to a gate that said “do not disturb.” I debated opening the gate and going in, and just then I saw somebody on the property walking behind a car. “Excuse me,“ I said. A Gentleman walked out from behind the car. “Are you Santo?” I asked. He looked me up and down. “You got some balls to come all the way out here looking for me,“ he replied. After showing him my “credentials,” he told me he didn’t want me coming in the house, but he offered to take me to the local McDonald’s and tell me anything I wanted to know. Does does he still play? Yes, but only inside the house. Has he talk to Johnny since their 1976 break up? He’s only seen him briefly once or twice, out in public, and they didn’t speak. Does he know that people are looking for him? Yes, he has had many offers to perform and record. Does he still own his original steel guitar? Yes, he does. Does he have any interest in coming out and playing some festivals? No interest whatsoever, he says. Would he be up for letting me call him and do a real in-depth interview, so I can write his story down? Yes, “but that number is just for you, OK? Don’t go giving it out.“ Then he said he had to get back to his house. I dropped him off, and he told me I was crazy for coming up to his place. I told him i was grateful he didn’t chase me off his property with a shotgun. He laughed, and went back inside. And that, to the best of my knowledge, is the only contact Santo Farina has had with anybody connected to his musical legacy of Santo and Johnny for over a quarter of a century. More to come....

[Jim Cohen]

So, what's the phone number...?

[Andy Volk]

1-800-SLE-EPWK

[Jim Cohen]

1-800-SLE-EPWK

Already tried that one...

[Mark Eaton]

I guess the residuals from Sleepwalk are such that Santo (age 81) really hasn't done much of anything for quite a long time and has been able to live comfortably. I looked up the only other single they cut that made a significant dent in the charts, which was Tear Drop that peaked at #23. There's a third which reached #49, the name escapes me at the moment.

I've read that Johnny still does some performing, he's about five years younger than Santo.

A "one hit wonder" who has lived near me in Santa Rosa for years is Norman Greenbaum, the Sprit in the Sky dude. My wife and I were watching the biopic about Tonya Harding the ice skater last weekend and Spirit in the Sky popped up during a scene.

I turned to her and said "I wonder how much Norman got paid for them to use the song in this film?"

[Jim Cohen]

Last I had heard, Santo had retired to Italy many years ago. Surprised he was located on Long Island...

[Mark Eaton]

Maybe Italy didn't "take" after awhile and it was time to move back to the states?

[Andy Volk]

I just watched the latest episode of the show "Timeless" which takes place (for this episode) in the 50s and they used a steel guitar tune over a 1-VI-II-V clearly meant to evoke Sleepwalk but without having to pay royalties for actually using the real tune. I'm guessing that Sleepwalk may be the most used pop instrumental in films and TV of all time.

[David M Brown]

I turned to her and said "I wonder how much Norman got paid for them to use the song in this film?"

It depends if he wrote the tune or not - the writer will get way more money than the performer.

[Mark Eaton]

I turned to her and said "I wonder how much Norman got paid for them to use the song in this film?"

It depends if he wrote the tune or not - the writer will get way more money than the performer.

Thanks David, I know how it works.

Norman indeed wrote Spirit in the Sky, and it's all his, not split with any cowriters.

[Doug Beaumier]

Santo! This is so cool. Here's a picture from Deke's post.

[Mike Neer]

Inquiring minds want to know: Did he get fries with that shake?

[Mitch Drumm]

Amazing how people are unrecognizable if you have not seen a picture of them less than 40 or 50 years old. I'd like to see the results of age-progression software on a 1961 picture of Santo. He looks nothing at all like what I would have expected.

Kudos to Deke for the effort.

However---I'd imagine Deke is now in a difficult spot.

By all indications, Santo is a very private individual who would prefer his business is not in the street.

I'd be afraid that in any further in-depth discussion of his career, Santo might just get up and walk out of the McDonald's if the probing got too personal--particularly as regards his brother. Everyone has assumed for 30 plus years that there is acrimony for whatever reason.

I assume Deke's intention would be to publish whatever he learned.

Maybe Santo will place conditions on the subject matter?

Regardless, I look forward to Santo's story although I admit my interest is purely selfish and voyeuristic---I would certainly have understood and approved if Santo had in fact escorted Deke to the county line when first approached. Santo's right to privacy certainly trumps any interest I might have.

[Jim Cohen]

I wonder if he had any reaction to being inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame...? Perhaps I'll ask over on Deke's FB page...

[Doug Beaumier]

Evidently Santo was burnt out on the music biz by the late 1970s. S&J had great success in Europe in the post-Sleep Walk years, especially in Italy. According to rumors, the brothers had a falling out. I can’t imagine what happened and I don’t think I want to know, but it’s for sure that Santo lost all interest in touring and performing.

[Mark Helm]

This is a fantastic story! Maybe this contact with Deke will draw Santo out. If he really understands how many people he drew to the non-pedal steel guitar, then it must be kinda mind-blowing.

Of course, at his age, he's likely concerned his playing will be compared to the playing he did in the old days (as it surely would). Can ya blame the guy?

Yup, it's a fine, fine line Deke has to walk now. But kudos to him for doing it!

[Jim Cohen]

[Steve Green]

Amazing how people are unrecognizable if you have not seen a picture of them less than 40 or 50 years old. I'd like to see the results of age-progression software on a 1961 picture of Santo. He looks nothing at all like what I would have expected. . . .

He still looks practically the same to me.

[Doug Beaumier]

This top picture looks more like the older Santo. The brothers didn't look too happy in these 1970s images. Life on the road must have taken it's toll. By the way, is that a "talk box" Santo has attached to his steel? a la Pete Drake?

[Jussi Huhtakangas]

I saw Johnny Farina in Spain at Screamin' Festival two years ago. Just two days before there'd been a rumor that Santo has passed away. We all wondered how he'd feel playing all those songs if his brother has just passed. Then he explained on stage before the show that it was their cousin, also named Santo, who actually was the one who passed. I was curious to hear how Johnny would nail down his brother's steel parts but he did a good job, as did the Spanish backing band. After the show I met him backstage and had a brief chat with him and got his picture and autograph. He played a double neck walnut Stringmaster at that show.

[Scott Thomas]

No disrespect, but I seriously thought he had passed away and that's why Johnny was out there carrying on the legacy. Wow.

He is such an original voice on the steel guitar. Just a couple of notes and you know it's him.

Deke is my kind of geek. What a service he does chasing the trail of the forgotten greats and reminding the world why they were great.

[Mark Eaton]

Yeah, it's definitely a version of the talk box: Pete Drake, Peter Frampton, Joe Walsh, etc.

I was in attendance during the recording of Frampton Comes Alive at Winterland in San Francisco the evening that most of the tracks on the album were selected.

That portion of Santo & Johnny's career in the '70s apparently blew right by me in those days.

In the lower album cover photo, they really had the hippie-dippy thing going on.

[Russ Wever]

. . By the way, is that a "talk box" Santo has
attached to his steel? a la Pete Drake?

Looks like a Vacuum Cleaner attachment, the
one that let's ya get into those 'tight spaces'!

[HowardR]

Would he be up for letting me call him and do a real in-depth interview, so I can write his story down? Yes, “but that number is just for you, OK? Don’t go giving it out.“

Did you have to sign a.....Santo clause?

[Michael Greer]

Howard

I laughed so hard reading your post I had a "Teardrop" running down my cheek.