Fanny

Fanny - Fanny - 1970 - Reprise

Fanny were probably the first self-founded, authentic, all-woman rock band signed to a major US record label, and to achieve a considerable amount of success outside Norh America, most noticeably in Britain where they supported mega-rock bands like Jethro Tull and Humble Pie. They never achieved true superstar status, but all the Millington sisters ever wanted to do was to play guitar and sing in the first all-female band, and they could rock. They should have achieved more fame, but exploitation and bad management, and a naive interest of financial matters, paying little heed to their business careers by the band, eventually led to Fanny's demise. This is a good debut album from the band. The girls were all great musicians. There is a variety of styles here. "Come and Hold Me" by June and Jean is a breezy sixties style pop tune. The sisters' "Candlelighter Man" has a similar style. "Seven Roads" is a good funk rock tune. "Take a Message to the Captain" is written in a whimsical Lennon & McCartney fashion. "Shade Me" and "I Just Realized" are good rockin' tunes with great vocals., and Jean does an exceptionally good cover version of Cream's Badge. Check out their 1972, "Fanny Live" album, and the Todd Rundgren produced "Mother's Pride" album, which is a better rockin' album.

TRACK INFO [ All info © 2007-2008 Fanny the Band, www.fannyrocks.com/html/fanny_1970.htm ]

1.Come and Hold Me (June Millington, Jean Millington)
A bright and breezy feel-good song to start the album. The Millingtons’ sunny Californian folk rock roots are on show from day one in this acoustic driven song of emotional longing.

2.I Just Realized (Nickey Barclay, June Millington)
Track 2 and already Nickey Barclay makes herself felt. This is the other side of Fanny’s coin – a darker funkier sound heightened by June’s buzzing guitar and Jean’s octave switching bass line. One of only three songs co-written by Nickey Barclay and June Millington during the band’s lifetime.

3.Candlelighter Man (June Millington, Jean Millington)
Fanny does Motown with this delightful moderately paced rocker driven by June’s choppy rhythm guitar and Alice’s vice-like drumming. Some good harmony singing and interesting chord shifts lift the chorus.

4.Conversation With a Cop (Nickey Barclay)
One of Nickey’s best ballads complete with thought-provoking lyric and artfully constructed melody. The band wraps it up in a starkly minimalist arrangement that only underscores its power. June‘s fluid guitar lines and some atmospheric keyboards from Nickey make this one of the best tracks on the album.

5.Badge (Eric Clapton, George Harrison)
The first of two covers, this is a brave choice bearing in mind the identity of the co-writers. Taken at a slightly faster pace than Cream’s original, the bass line introduction is replaced by a burst of feedback and some trademark piano. This version also showcases some ringing double-tracked arpeggio playing and a Clapton-like solo from June.

6.Changing Horses (Nickey Barclay)
The long rambling piano intro brings to mind Jethro Tull’s ‘Locomotive Breath’ but when the song finally arrives it reveals Nickey Barclay’s rawest rocker on record. Built on Jean’s rumbling bass lines, it rampages along with June’s sheet metal guitar and urgent on-the-one drumming from Alice. A throat ripping vocal from Nickey completes the sheer exuberance of this song.

7.Bitter Wine (Nickey Barclay)
A haunting melancholic ballad from Nickey Barclay featuring some subtle wah-wah playing from June and clever vocal arrangements in the chorus. Simple but very effective.

8.Take a Message to the Captain (Nickey Barclay)
More variety from Nickey as this moderately paced ballad veers into Country and Western and back with its storyboard lyric and June’s sympathetic slide playing. Alice’s chugging rhythm draws you in and the final key modulation always surprises.

9.It Takes a Lot of Good Lovin’ (Alvertis Isbell, Booker T Jones)
The second cover on the album strays into R&B territory with a typically tough vocal from Jean and some tight ensemble playing from the band.

10.Shade Me (Nickey Barclay)
More dark funk from Nickey with a touch of Latin in the mix. Jean’s slithering bass introduces the song and remains its foundation through the whole song. A real ensemble piece with each member contributing a well-structured solo.

11.Seven Roads (June Millington, Jean Millington, Alice de Buhr)
An explosive closer to the album. Based around a ferocious guitar riff and pounding tom toms, this is quite an unusual collaborative song in that it is essentially riff driven in the manner of many heavy metal bands rather than song based. It climaxes with a shudderingly intense solo from June followed by a similar effort from Nickey in her best Rod Argent mode.

BAND

Nickey Barclay (Keyboards), (Vocals)
June Millington (Guitar), (Vocals)
Jean Millington (Bass), (Guitar), (Vocals)
Alice de Buhr (Drums), (Vocals)

There was a Canadian Reprise issue of this album pressed from wrong master tapes. with the following track listing -

Charity Ball (June Millington, Jean Millington, Alice de Buhr)
Place in the Country (Nickey Barclay)
Changes (June Millington)
One Step at a Time (Josephine Armstead, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson)
Conversation With a Cop (Nickey Barclay)
Nowhere to Run (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland)
Seven Roads (June Millington, Jean Millington, Alice de Buhr)
Take a Message to the Captain (Nickey Barclay)
Come and Hold Me (June Millington, Jean Millington)
Lady’s Choice (June Millington, Jean Millington)
New Day (June Millington, Jean Millington)

The tracks, "I Just Realized," "Candlelighter Man," "Badge," "Changing Horses," Bitter Wine," "It Takes a Lot of Good Lovin’, & "Shade Me" are excluded from this Canadian release. It does, however include the tracks, "Charity Ball," "Place In The Country," "Changes," "One Step at a Time," "Nowhere to Run,,"Lady’s Choice," & "New Day." The tracks from both album versions may be available on a Rhino CD release.

REVIEW

This disc features the self-titled debut from Fanny, the first all-female rock & roll band signed to a major record label. The self-contained quartet not only sports exceptional musicianship, but also some highly original pop and rock compositions. Under the tutelage of veteran record producer Richard Perry, Fanny challenged (and by all accounts won) the hearts and minds of the prevailing male-dominated recording industry of the early '70s. Fanny is a solid effort with original rockers such as "I Just Realized," "Changing Horses," and "Seven Roads" arguably outweighing the inspired covers of Cream's "Badge" and the obscure Billy Vera/Judy Clay tune "It Takes a Lot of Good Loving." Mixed in with those harder-edged tracks are the comparatively mellow -- yet decidedly hip -- "Bitter Wine," "Candlelighter Man," and "Conversation With a Cop." Prior to the U.S. release of Fanny and before Nickey Barclay officially joined the band, an alternate version of the album was issued in Canada. This adaptation -- christened "Fanny .50" by vinyl collectors and enthusiasts alike -- is different in several notable ways. Most apparent is the unique running order substituting the tracks "Changes," "One Step at a Time,""Nowhere to Run," "Ladies Choice," and "New Day" with "I Just Realised," "Candlelighter Man," "Changing Horses," "Bitter Wine," "It Takes a Lot of Good Lovin'," and "Shade Me." While no exact figures exist in regards to how many copies were pressed or subsequently sold, it has become one of if not the most collectible entry in the band's Reprise Records discography. The Internet-only sonic boutique Rhino HandMade -- online at www.rhinohandmade.com -- has issued First Time in a Long Time: The Reprise Recordings, which contains both versions of this landmark album. © Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide

BIO

Upon signing hard rock combo Fanny in 1970, Warner Bros. claimed their new acquisition was the first all-female rock & roll band -- a statement far from the truth, of course, but as one of the first self-contained distaff groups to land on a major label, they were an important harbinger of things to come. Fanny formed in California under the name Wild Honey, teaming singer/guitarist June Millington, her bassist sister Jean, keyboardist Nickey Barclay, and drummer Alice de Buhr. With Wild Honey signing to Reprise, the new name Fanny was suggested to producer Richard Perry by no less than ex-Beatle George Harrison; though a relatively innocuous term in the band's native United States, its more scandalous meaning overseas was only known to the group much later on. Fanny's self-titled debut LP appeared in 1970, earning radio airplay for its cover of the Cream favorite "Badge." The title track from their 1971 follow-up Charity Ball was the group's first Billboard chart hit, although they enjoyed greater commercial success in the U.K., touring in support of Jethro Tull and Humble Pie. (They were also banned from performing at the London Palladium on the grounds they were "too sexy.") After contributing as session players on Barbra Streisand's self-titled 1971 album, Fanny issued Fanny Hill a year later, but following 1973's Todd Rundgren-produced Mother's Pride, June Millington and de Buhr left the group, and were replaced by guitarist Patti Quatro (formerly of the Pleasure Seekers and sister of another pioneering female rocker, Suzi Quatro) and drummer Brie Howard, soon replaced by Cam Davis. The reconstituted lineup landed with Casablanca for a disappointing final album, 1974's Rock'n'Roll Survivors, before dissolving. The Millington sisters later recorded as solo artists before reuniting as the Slammin' Babes, while Barclay later toured as part of Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen troupe and in 1976 issued a solo LP, Diamond in a Junkyard. de Buhr, meanwhile, also remained in the music industry, at one time working as a retail marketing coordinator for A&M -- where she was assigned to promote the Go-Go's, one of the bands for whom Fanny clearly paved the way. © Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

BIO (Wikipedia)

Fanny were a late 1960s, early 1970s American all-women band led by June Millington. They were pioneers as one of the first rock bands to feature all women, and the second to sign to a major record label, behind Goldie & the Gingerbreads. They hit the top 40 twice, with "Charity Ball" in 1971 and "Butter Boy" in 1975, peaking at #40 and #29, respectively. A reunion show with the Millington sisters and de Buhr was held at Berklee Music Center on April 20 2007, where the band members received the Rockgrl Women Of Valor award for their achievements. Original line-up - Jean Millington: bass, vocals June Millington: guitar, vocals Nickey Barclay: keyboards, vocals Alice de Buhr: drums, vocals. Later members included - Patti Quatro: guitar, vocals - sister of Suzi Quatro Brie Brandt-Howard: drums, vocals Cam Davis: drums Wendy Haas: Keyboards, vocals Padi Moschetta: Percussion, vocals.