When Fanny Rocked

David Bowie called Fanny "one of the finest f---ing rock bands of their time," and Amy Ray dubbed former Fanny guitarist June Millington her musical godmother, but these days, few remember the groundbreaking all-woman band. In the early 1970s, Fanny released six albums, toured relentlessly, recorded at the Beatles' Apple Studios, and shared stages with Ike and Tina Turner, Chicago, Jethro Tull and others, paving the way for many women rockers.

Fanny band members from left to right:
Jean Millington, Nickey Barclay, June Millington, Alice de Buhr
Photo credit: Deborah Frost Levine

Two of Fanny's founding members, sisters June and Jean Millington, started out on ukuleles while growing up in the Philippines. They switched to electric guitars when they moved to the States in 1961. Or rather, as Jean remarked in an interview with AfterEllen.com, June picked up the guitar and told Jean, "You have to play the bass."

Jean laughed and recalled: "She was the older sister, 13 months older. She led, I followed." As it turned out, she was a good bass player, figuring out almost everything by ear. "There were no models for young girls to learn how to play," she said.

June (left) and Jean Millington

Photo credits: Bob Riegler

In 1968, they played with several women musicians as the Svelts, a band that also featured drummer Alice de Buhr. They toured the West in a renovated bus, playing Motown songs and other covers. It wasn't easy. "Men tried to look up our skirts," noted June. They honed their craft in spite of the obstacles and then traveled to Los Angeles to either sign with a label or go back to school. By this time, they were called Wild Honey.

The choice was almost "go back to school." On what they thought would be their last gig in L.A., they played the open mic at the famous Troubadour. Richard Perry's secretary was there. Perry, a staff member at Warner Brothers, had a series of hits with Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon and others. He'd always dreamed of producing an all-woman rock band, and when Wild Honey auditioned for him, he knew he'd struck gold.

June said: "They thought we'd be another novelty act like Tiny Tim. We played for the label executives so they'd be excited about us, proving that we could really play."

By this time the band was a trio — June, Jean and drummer Alice. After doing some recording, they realized they needed another member. They considered the few female rock musicians they knew, even flying in a few prospective performers, but nothing clicked until they found keyboard player Nickey Barclay. The only problem? Nickey wasn't interested in joining a women's band.

She explained to AfterEllen.com via email: "In the late '60s the concept of a girl band meant one of two things: a Las Vegas-type travesty (think topless), or a radical feminist collective project, and at that stage of my life I was revolted by either prospect. I still am."

Nickey Barclay

Photo credit: Bob Riegler

At this point, the search was on for a new name. June remembered hearing about a band that used a woman's name, so they threw 30 or 40 women's names around. Fanny stuck. The label machinery started cranking out double entendres like "Get behind Fanny." Did that bother them? "Most people couldn't even accept an all-girl band," said June. "That was a much bigger issue for us. How could we get upset about the name?"