Graded on a Curve: Fanny, Live on Beat-Club ’71–’72
BY JOSEPH NEFF | JULY 11, 2024
Reprinted from “The Vinyl District” Website
Featuring guitarist-vocalist June Millington, her bassist-vocalist sister Jean Millington, keyboardist-vocalist Nickey Barclay, and drummer-vocalist Alice de Buhr, Fanny was a groundbreaking and under-sung band, with a profile that’s been raised in recent years, partly through Real Gone Music getting their four early ’70s releases for Reprise back into circulation. Worthwhile albums all, but the band’s sharpest, most rocking stuff was cut live in a German studio. After years of blowing minds on YouTube the material has finally hit vinyl and compact disc as Live on Beat-Club ‘71–’72. Available now, it belongs on any shelf dedicated to standout achievements in rock music.
It’s been clear for a long time that Fanny was a great band. Not a producer-molded girl-group, but an aggregation of individuals who were adept on their instruments and talented as songwriters and who worked hard at realizing their band reality. It’s also obvious from the historical record that a whole lot of people at the time who were rock inclined either didn’t know what to make of them or were (consciously or un) threatened by them.
Four records for Reprise, Fanny (1970), Charity Ball (1971), Fanny Hill (1972), and Mothers Pride (1973), established a penchant for pop hooks and the ability to rock hard without migrating into hard rock territory proper. They could dish out the boogie (smartly), not the thud and the bombast. But without precedent, nobody at Reprise (notably an artist friendly label) had the backbone to let Fanny call the shots in the studio.
Traveling to Germany from England to record for the television program Beat-Club, Fanny was presented with a hands-off approach, so that they turned up loud and played with raw edge and enthusiasm. First cut “Charity Ball” is raucous enough that hard rock isn’t inappropriate as a descriptor, but Fanny’s really hitting the sweet spot where boogie crunch overlaps with rockin’ soul (it’s those vocal harmonies).
These are elements too often mucked up by dudes with bad judgement, but Fanny excel through tastefulness and a disinclination for excess. “Place in the Country” is loaded with guitar scorch (nicely offset with Barclay’s piano), but they keep it tidy and the groove never falters. And speaking of groove, their version of “Hey Bulldog” ranks amongst the best Beatles covers ever. No exaggeration. Everything clicks in the song, particularly de Buhr, who has absorbed the lessons of Ringo and gives them her own spin.
“Thinking of You” is one of the treats of the disc, a shift into poppier regions that shines through Jean’s vocal verve and Barclay’s savvy organ (never too many notes). But then a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” turns up the heat with June’s blistering slide guitar (fans of Lowell George take note), and “Blind Alley” wraps up side one as de Buhr delivers some primo galloping kit thunder.
A ripping version of Buffalo Springfield’s “Special Care” opens the flip. Solidifying that rockin’ soul angle, a take of Ike and Tina Turner’s “Young and Dumb” closes it. In between are three originals, “Summer Song” by June and “Borrowed Time” and “Knock on My Door” by Barclay. If side two isn’t quite as massive as what preceded it, the whole doesn’t miss by much and the band never falters.
Live on Beat-Club ‘71–’72 is how Fanny’s records should’ve sounded back in the day. They would’ve blown some preconceived notions to smithereens. It’s still a sweet trip.
GRADED ON A CURVE: A
I have the CD version,oh my God, I listened to it and I had to listen again. For me, Fanny has the same effect on me as the Beatles have had since the beginning, every time I, no matter the song, it’s like hearing it for the first time. I’m making a stainedglass Fanny window, I’ll update later. David