Another Fannytastic Evening with June Millington

On Thursday night, I saw Fanny: The Right to Rock for the fifth time. It was also the third time I saw Bobbi Jo Hart's documentary in the presence of Fanny's lead guitarist June Millington. 

Back in October, I met June along with her longtime partner Ann Hackler at the New England premiere of Fanny: The Right to Rock at the Brattle Theatre here in Cambridge as part of the Boston Women's Film Festival where I had the honor of carrying June's guitar case following a short acoustic set. A little over five weeks later, I briefly renewed acquaintances with June and Ann in New York during the DOC NYC Festival as June shared the stage with latter day Fanny members Brie Howard Darling and Patti Quatro. 

This time around, Fanny: The Right to Rock was being shown at the Emerson Paramount Center in downtown Boston as part of Emerson College's free Bright Lights Film Series. It was the first in person screening of a film at the Emerson Paramount Center since March 2020. Audience members also received a free copy of the 2018 Fanny Walked The Earth CD the making of which was documented in the film.

What made this viewing different was the use of subtitles. I must admit I was a bit distracted by their presence and thought it inhibited some of the spontaneous reactions I've witnessed during the two aforementioned public viewings. Some of the subtitling was just outright incorrect as Mott the Hoople was referred to as Martha Hoople. However, there was a gentleman in attendance who was hearing impaired and expressed great appreciation for their use. What might have been a minor inconvenience for me was a major lifeline for that gentleman. It is also worth noting that June is also deaf in her left ear. It was a reminder that one must always be mindful to the needs of others.

In repeated viewings of Fanny: The Right to Rock, I was struck by the inclusion of Super 8 footage of June, her sister Jean Millington and Brie Howard Darling (then known as Brie Berry) as part The Svelts - the forerunner to Fanny. I asked Bobbi Jo Hart about the footage after the showing in New York and she suggested I speak with June. So I brought it up and June informed the audience that it was promotional footage The Svelts did for the Stanford Ski Club and that unbeknownst to her, she had the footage after all these years. Even without sound those snippets are remarkable for the sight of seeing an all-female, multi-racial band playing rock 'n roll in front of a live audience during the 1960's. 

Following the Q&A, June played some music. For the most part, she did snippets of Fanny songs such as "Hey Bulldog" and "Soul Child" as well as "Storm-Crossed" from Fanny Walked The Earth and "Play Like a Girl", a song recorded a decade ago by June and Jean Millington which has become something of an unofficial theme of the Institute of Musical Arts, the non-profit co-founded by June and Ann to support girls and women in music and the music business. The only song June played in its entirety was "Long Road Home" from the 1973 Fanny album Mother's Pride which June described as "the song that saved her life."

Shortly after adjournment of the proceedings, I was approached by a gentleman from Somerville named Bill who recognized me for my participation on the Facebook groups Fanny and Induct Fanny Into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Bill told me that he had been a fan of Fanny since he was 10-years old when their eponymous debut album was released in 1970. He had not been aware that Fanny: The Right to Rock had played at The Brattle in October and was quite perturbed to have missed it, but was delighted to when he learned of the Boston show. After talking to Bill for about 10 minutes, I could see that he was eager to meet June so I gave him leave to meet someone he had admired longer than I've been alive.

For the second time, I ended the evening by carrying June's guitar as we waited for Ann to bring the car around. I hope this won't be the last time I have this honor. May another Fannytastic evening with June Millington be on the order paper.