Upon signing hard rock combo
Fanny in 1970, Warner Bros. claimed their new acquisition was the first all-female rock band -- a statement far from the truth, of course, but as one of the first self-contained female 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. (The Millingtons and
de Buhr had previously played in a Sacramento garage band called the Svelts.) 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.
Millington was replaced by guitarist
Patti Quatro, formerly of the Pleasure Seekers and sister of another pioneering female rocker,
Suzi Quatro.
De Buhr's spot was first taken by
Brie Howard, who had also played in the Millingtons' pre-Wild Honey band, although she was 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.
Fanny's legacy received a considerable boost in 2002, when Rhino Handmade released the comprehensive box set
First Time in a Long Time, which collected everything the group recorded for
Reprise over the course of four CDs. Riding on the buzz of the box, the classic lineup -- minus
Nickey Barclay, who sat out for health reasons -- performed a reunion concert at Berklee College of Music in 2007. Real Gone Music reissued the band's four
Reprise records between 2013 and 2016. In 2016,
June and
Jean Millington reunited with
Brie Howard for a concert, after which the trio formed a new outfit called Fanny Walked the Earth. This group released an eponymous debut in March 2018. ~ Jason Ankeny