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Fanny was billed as the first all
female rock band signed to a major record label. In there starts
the hoopla behind their story. For me, I was quite ready for some
talented female vocalists besides Karen Carpenter's mushy songs.
We needed a ROCK band, not Barbara Streisand!
Enter Fanny. Ignore that they backed Streisand on an
album (hey, gotta pay the bills, right?) This was a Rock 'n' Roll
band.
For me, their third album,
"Fanny Hill," is their best collection of songs. It is
very hard to find these days, even on eBay. They had a total of 4
albums for Reprise Records in as many years. Boston took 18 years
to put out 4 albums, and still didn't come up with the range of styles
and sounds Fanny accomplished |
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"Fanny Hill" cover re-done in sepia tone by me.
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As a 15 year old when "Fanny Hill"
was released in 1972, I was one of those annoying 1970's teenagers
that played his music way too loud. Fanny was at the top of
the list with this album. "Fanny Hill" features some
blistering rock solos, touching ballads, social commentary and a
nice sense of humor.
If you want to hear quintessential
Fanny, pick up this album. Recorded at Apple Studios, London,
in late 1971, it features their best production work and some of
their best songs. It is amazing to me that not one of these
songs ever cracked the top 40 charts. There's rock, soft rock,
ballads and even a little swearing!
Most of my friends through those
years never heard of Fanny, and I was very good at converting them
into fans as I played this album at parties or in my car. Did
get slapped once by a date as I told her I was reaching for some
Fanny (going for a cassette, and not her butt).
Today, I listen to this album in my van as I drive from place to place. The thing
that hits me the most is that this music sounds great, even
today. It could be released today, untouched, and still
compete with it's sound. A credit to it's production and the
talent behind it. |
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My favorite is their cover of the Beatles "Hey Bulldog." At the time of it's release, I was not aware of the
Beatles' version of this song. I wasn't that big of a Beatles
fan and after hearing Fanny's version of the song, I can hardly listen
to the Beatles version. This version rocks and needs to be
played loud to be appreciated. Excellent drum fills by Alice.
The tongue-in-cheek "Rock
Bottom Blues" which is sung by the drummer Alice de Buhr.
It's a song about a down and out rock & roller. Features the classic swearing line.
Remember, this was 1972, when you couldn't even say "damn"
on the radio let alone the big "F" word. It is
hilarious on the live CD to hear her fellow band mates try to hush her
up as the line comes up over a live radio broadcast. My parents were not
very fond of this track being played around the house, but I couldn't
resist the fun of it. Alice would continue on their next album
with a similar song about the music industry. Trying to tell us
something Alice? By the way, when cranked up, you can really
hear Alice's drumming loud and clear. She's a kick-ass player
and added some great licks to many songs.
"Borrowed Time" and "Blind Alley"
feature some of guitarist June Millington's best solo work. She
blisters on rhythm and lead guitars. The range of style June
played, from acoustic to kick-ass slide guitar, helped propel Fanny's
sound beyond simple rock fuzz guitar styles so popular in the '70's.
Jean's bass forms a solid foundation
for Fanny's sound, and their voices harmonize pretty damn good.
As a bass player myself, I always found Jean's bass playing to be rock
solid, but not domineering over the overall Fanny sound. We bass
players get ignored, not being in the lime light so to speak, but turn
your bass down on your stereo and the foundation for Fanny falls right
out (no jokes please...).
A great song writer and classic rock pianist
is Nickey Barclay. Nickey's voice is very distinctive and she
could give it a bit of funky sound as well. Her song "First
Time" should be an all-time rock ballad classic. Nickey had the
best lyrics, going from touching love song to tongue-in-cheek
effortlessly. She had an earthy quality to her songs as well at
times. Fanny's sense of humor seems to stem from her input.
Even before chatting with Nickey via the Internet, she was my favorite
personality of the group. Check her out on the DVD of Joe
Cocker's "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour. Classic 70's rock
movie! |
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