Tag: Jean Millington

I want to thank Lisa for inviting me to write for her Women Music March. She posted this on March 20, 2025. She has been doing this for years and it gets better and better. Thanks, Lisa! She has had some great artists this month. 

Joe Elliott: “I had no idea who they were, but this four minutes of music, and I was hooked.”

Kathy Valentine: They made 5 records.  The Go Gos get a lot of attention for what we did and we only made 3 records. 

Earl Slick: It’s always the ones that start it gets f**ked

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.

When you hear about an all-female band…the Bangles, Runaways, and Go-Go’s come to mind but this band was completely different. These women rocked…not pop-rock but some hard blues rock. They were pioneers and had a huge impact on those other female bands, and those bands all cited Fanny as an influence. 

They had a blues edge about them and weren’t as commercial. They never got that one big hit single to break them to the masses. They had a few songs with a pop flavor that really should have made it, such as All Mine… that would get my vote.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings:

They were formed in the late sixties in Sacramento by two Filipina sisters (their family left the Philippines in 1961 while kids), Jean and June Millington. June Millington was the lead guitar player and her sister Jean was the bass player. They started out in high school with the name The Svelts and then Wild Honey but the band was then renamed Fanny, not with a sexual connotation but to denote a female spirit. 

Career

Fanny released their self-titled debut album in 1970, making them one of the first all-female bands to be signed to a major label and record a full album with complete creative control. Their blend of rock, funk, blues, and pop set them apart. They would be the first all-female band to release an album on a major label (Reprise) and land four singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and two in the top 40. 

Like any other band, they had to pay their dues. They opened up for artists such as Jethro Tull, Humble Pie, Slade, Leon Russell, Van Morrison, Chuck Berry, Deep Purple, and many more. When you are opening for artists of that caliber, you are very good. Their range was incredible. They played on Barbra Streisand’s 1971 album Barbra Joan Streisand. So they could play almost anything. 

They went on to release an album every year from 1970 to 1974, making it 5 studio albums in total in the 1970s, while touring relentlessly. By their third album,m Mother’s Pride, guitarist June Millington quit after it was released because she felt restrained by the band. After some changes, with her sister Jean still playing bass, the band released their last 1970s album, Rock and Roll Survivors. The album contained their highest charting single with Butter Boy, which charted at #29. 

Fanny broke up in 1975, reunited in 2018, and released an album titled Fanny Walked the Earth. I simply adore these women because they could keep up with anyone in any field. One night Deep Purple missed a gig and Fanny filled in for them for that night without complaints. 

Discography: (wiki)

Studio Albums

• Fanny (1970)
• Charity Ball (1971) (No. 150)
• Fanny Hill (1972) (No. 135)
• Mothers Pride (1973)
• Rock and Roll Survivors (1974)
• Fanny Walked the Earth (2018, as Fanny Walked the Earth)

Live Albums

• Fanny Live (1998; recorded 1972) (reissued as Fanny: Live in 1972)
• Live on Beat-Club ’71-’72 (2024)

Singles

• “Ladies’ Choice” / “New Day” (1970)
• “Nowhere to Run” / “One Step at a Time” (1970)
• “Changing Horses” / “Conversation with a Cop” (January 1971)
• “Charity Ball” / “Place in the Country” (September 1971) (No. 40)
• “Ain’t That Peculiar” / “Think About the Children” (March 1972) (No. 85)
• “Wonderful Feeling” / “Rock Bottom Blues” (July 1972)
• “Young and Dumb” / “Knock on My Door” (October 1972)
• “All Mine” / “I Need You Need Me” (January 1973)
• “Last Night I Had a Dream” / “Beside Myself” (April 1973)
• “I’ve Had It” / “From Where I Stand” (June 1974) (No. 79)
• “Butter Boy” / “Beggar Man” (January 1975) (No. 29)

In recent years, Fanny has participated in reunion events, introducing their songs to new audiences. These performances have served both as a tribute to their historical impact and as a celebration of their music. They have a documentary out…watch it! It’s called FANNY: The Right To Rock that I placed at the top.

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