Fanny – Special Care

I posted a different song from this band a while ago.  I’ve been listening to them recently and they were a special (see David Bowie quote below) band. The musicianship of Fanny was outstanding.

Their name was Wild Honey but…according to Wiki… The band was then renamed Fanny, not with a sexual connotation but to denote a female spirit

These women rocked…not pop rock but blues rock. They were pioneers before the Runaways, Bangles and the Go Go’s…and those bands all cited Fanny as an influence. Fanny was different than those bands… They had a blues edge about them.

Fanny was formed in the late sixties in Sacramento by two Filipina sisters, Jean and June Millington. June Millington was the lead guitar player and her sister Jean was the bass player. June could play circles around many rock guitarists.  Fanny would be the first all-female band to release an album on a major label (their self-titled debut, on Reprise, 1970) and land four singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and two in the top 40. The band played blues, rock, and some pop.

Fanny toured worldwide, opening for Slade, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, and Humble Pie. They were praised by David Bowie, John Lennon, George Harrison, Lowell George, Sly Stone, and Bonnie Raitt but yet vanished without much fan fair. They were touring and releasing records between 1970 – 1975.

This song was on their Charity Ball album. The album peaked at #140 in the Billboard Album Charts. The title song charted at #40.

The worked with producers such as Vini Poncia, Geoff Emerick, and Richard Perry. They also worked with

June was described by Guitar Player as the hottest female guitar player in the music industry in the 70s. She made a career as a producer for artists including Holly Near, Cris Williamson and Bitch and Animal. June also operates a music camp for young girls. Jean has done studio work for many artists, including Keith Moon, David Bowie, and Roderick Taylor. Jean also married Bowie’s guitarist Earl Slick and is presently an herbalist. The Millingtons continued to record together after Fanny as well, most recently on the 2011 album Play Like a Girl on June’s label Fabulous Records.

They also worked with Barbra Streisand. Jean commented that they heard horror stories about her from other musicians but she treated the band with nothing but respect.

These ladies need to be heard and remembered.

David Bowie:

“They were one of the finest fucking rock bands of their time,” “They were extraordinary: They wrote everything, they played like motherfuckers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody’s ever mentioned them. They’re as important as anybody else who’s ever been, ever; it just wasn’t their time.”

This is a trailer for documentary about Fanny…it’s short and interesting. 

Special Care

You there in the corner
Staring at me
Do you think I’m blowing my cool
Playing the fool?

You there in the window
Staring at me
Do you think I’m trouble?
Would you like to shoot me down?
(Shoot me down, down, down, down)

Now, now, now, special care
(Special care)
Has been taken
To make you aware
(Special Care)
You’re forsaken
If you don’t care
(Special Care)

They’re gonna come burn your house down
(Burn it down, down, down, down)

Woaaaaa. Wooooaaaaaa
(Guitar Magic)
Ooaaaa
(Special Care)
Oo-hoo-hoo
(has been taken to make you aware)
Oo-hooooo
(You’re forsaken. If you don’t care)

Ohh-huh, they’re gonna come and burn it down
Down, oh, yeah, oh yeah, oh, do it, do it, do it

(Special Care)
(Special Care)
(Special Care)
(Special Care)
(Special Care) 

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

28 thoughts on “Fanny – Special Care”

  2. “it just wasn’t there time”… doesn’t that describe so many fine acts that fell through the cracks? Not a bad song, can almost hear a bit of Janis Joplin and early Tina Turner in it. Wonder if the Bee Gees were aware of them and took that as the inspiration for the song “Fanny”?

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    1. At least 3 of them sing so she wasn’t the only singer.
      It could be the inspiration for it.
      I couldn’t believe they played with Barbara Streisand…that shows you what level they were at.

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  4. They rock, no doubt about it. While they undoubtedly got some support from fellow musicians, I can’t imagine what they went through. I read Cherie Curry’s Neon Angel about The Runaways and they took a lot of crap from the fans when they were opening for bands like Aerosmith and Van Halen. I mean they were attacked on stage by guys who wanted to beat the crap out of them for having the audacity to play rock music.

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    1. It was stupidity…I can’t believe fans were that dumb. If they are good why the heck should it matter?
      They did get support from fellow musicians which helped their cause and was probably the reason they lasted as long as they did. When I read they worked with Barbara Streisand I knew they had to be top notch musicians.

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      1. Right. Streisand is famously hard to work with, like you wrote, she is a perfectionist. She’s equally demanding on herself, at least. She’s an amazing singer. The fact that she gave Fanny respect says a lot, indeed.

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    1. Yes he would be Bruce!
      I totally agree with him also. When you play rock like they did and actually work with Streisand…you had to be very good. She would get the best of the best.

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  6. Saw them in November 1974, opening for Jethro Tull at The Apollo, Glasgow. They were LOUD as I recall. Treated with a bit scepticism, as was Apollo crowds’ want, they totally blew everyone away. Need to search out some of their vinyl recordings. Thanks for posting. 🙂

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    1. Thank you for commenting. It’s great to talk to someone who actually seen them. They seemed to be able to play as good or better as their peers at that time.

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  7. These women had a better idea of what rock was all about than half the guys that were around at that time. June Millington was a hell of a guitarist. For them to just fall thru the cracks, as someone said, was a disgrace. They were better than a good half of the bands around in the early ’70’s. Problem was that the main consumers of rock then were 15-year-old guys, and for them it was Hendrix and Led Zep or it sucked.

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  9. Never heard of them before but based on this sound it’s a travesty they weren’t more famous – they can rock! The one sister on bass’s voice reminded me a bit of Janis Joplin a d the sister on guitar sounds like she could probably pay circles around a lot of other guy guitarists. Have to agree that they probably faced a lot of discrimination it just as all woman band but also two Filipino sisters. Great find Max!

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    1. Thanks Paul that is what I thought. They seemed to be accepted by other musicians and I thought that is where they would have had hardest time… They were no Bangles, Go-Go’s, and Runaways…they were a step up as musicians…and I like those bands.

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  11. I remember them. Fanny was my great-grandmother’s name, so that’s what gravitated me to their music. Even though they were on the Reprise label, their records were hard to find. Where I lived, if you weren’t in the top 40 then your albums weren’t in the record racks. But my high school friend’s sister went on a trip to California to visit relatives and came back with two of their albums. Without question, Fanny should have been a top 40 band.

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  12. I have always been in awe of this band, even though I’ve heard so little of their music. They weren’t girly girls costumed and produced into pop stars. This was the real deal. The business wasn’t ready for them, even though music fans were.

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    1. I’m happy that the musicians took them seriously… I thought that would be their toughest obstacle. They were just as good or better than their peers.

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