Fanny Walked The Earth Five Years Later

Five years ago today, Fanny would release Fanny Walked The Earth on the independent label Blue Elan Records. 

It would mark the first release of new Fanny material since Rock 'n Roll Survivors which had been released on Casablanca Records in 1974. This iteration of Fanny featured the all-Filipina trio of sisters June and Jean Millington and Brie Howard-Darling. The Millington sisters had been friends with Howard-Darling (originally known as Brie Berry) since they were teenagers in Sacramento, California. 

For a time, Berry was the drummer for The Svelts, the first band formed by the Millington sisters before she left to give birth to her daughter. After the formation of Fanny, she would be known as Brie Brandt and briefly returned to the fold. However, Fanny manager Roy Silver and producer Richard Perry wanted Fanny to be female Beatles which left Brandt the odd woman out. Following the departure of both June Millington and drummer Alice de Buhr, she formally joined the group and by this time was known as Brie Howard and appeared on the aforementioned Rock 'n Roll Survivors album. Fanny Walked The Earth marked the first time Howard-Darling would appear on the same album with June Millington. 

Produced by Dave Darling (Brie's husband), Fanny Walked The Earth provides nods to the past but very much looks to the future ahead. Unfortunately, shortly before the release of Fanny Walked The Earth, Jean Millington would suffer a severe stroke rendering her unable to play bass and shelving any plans to tour in support of the album. Fortunately, the making of Fanny Walked The Earth would get some measure of attention in Bobbie Jo Hart's documentary Fanny: The Right to Rock.

Fanny Walked The Earth begins with a fiery vocal by Howard-Darling on "Lured Away" followed by the feminist anthem "When We Need Her" co-written by the Darlings. "When We Need Her" features backup vocals of onetime Fanny member and Pleasure Seekers founder Patti Quatro, Cherie Currie of The Runaways, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's and a trio of Bangles (Susannah Hoffs and the Peterson sisters - Debbi and Vicki). 

"Walk The Earth" was co-written by the Millington sisters and Howard-Darling and features a drum duo between Howard-Darling and original Fanny drummer Alice de Buhr. For good measure, Wendy Haas-Mull, a onetime member of The Svelts and the short-lived L.A. All-Stars, chimes in on the Hammond B3 organ. 

Then comes a triad of June Millington compositions - "Girls on The Road", "One" and "It Happened Here". "Girls on the Road" picks up where "Walk The Earth" leaves off focusing on the history (or should I say herstory) of The Svelts, Wild Honey and Fanny. "One" demonstrates the one is in fact, contrary to Nilsson's assertion, not the loneliest number. "It Happened Here" has the distinction of supplanting "What's Wrong With Me" (from Fanny's second album Charity Ball) as the shortest song in the Fanny canon at 1:40.

"Not My Monkey" co-written by the Millington sisters and Howard-Darling complete with a spoken word intro by June, is probably the catchiest song on Fanny Walked The Earth. Howard-Darling follows with the breezy, laid back "Cool Girl". "What Are You Waiting For" is another composition written by all three members, but this time Jean takes the lead vocal. Her syncopated delivery makes "What Are You Waiting For" my favorite song on Fanny Walked The Earth. 

June's fourth and final solo composition on Fanny Walked The Earth is the gritty "Storm-Crossed". I will forever remember "Storm-Crossed" because this was the song June was rehearsing when I entered her home to celebrate my 50th birthday last September. Fanny Walked The Earth closes with an introspective ballad "Love Farmers" co-written by the Darlings.

Fanny Walked The Earth stacks up well with Fanny's five other albums. The one drawback I find with Fanny Walked The Earth is the same that I find with most Fanny albums - June Millington's lead guitar is watered down in the mix. I am puzzled as to why Richard Perry, Todd Rundgren and Dave Darling all saw fit to do so and believe it to be one of the great mysteries of life. There ought to be an 11th Commandment - Thou Shalt Turn Up June Millington's Guitar to 11. It is one of the reasons why I wish there had been a live Fanny album released by Reprise Records. Fanny is one of those rare bands that sounds at its best live as amply demonstrated by the Beat Club footage and June's full-throttled guitar is key to that sound.

This critique notwithstanding, Fanny Walked The Earth could have very well been the start of something. We'll never truly know, but if Jean Millington hadn't suffered a stroke, then I suspect there would have been one, perhaps two more Fanny albums added to the canon along with several tours gaining them a bigger following. As much renewed interest as there has been in Fanny over the past several years, there remains a very big "what if?"

Yet I must emphasize that Fanny Walked The Earth is a more than worthy album in its own right. Fanny Walked The Earth not only proved Fanny hadn't lost a step but that they had never stopped moving.