Mothers Pride (album)

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Mothers Pride
Studio album by
Fanny
ReleasedFebruary 1973
RecordedNovember 1972, January 1973
StudioSecret Sound, New York
Olympic Studios, London
GenreRock
Length45:31
LabelReprise
ProducerTodd Rundgren
Fanny chronology
Fanny Hill
(1972) 		Mothers Pride
(1973) 		Rock and Roll Survivors
(1974)
Singles from Mothers Pride
  1. "Summer Song"
    Released: January 1973 (UK)
  2. "All Mine"
    Released: March 1973 (US)
  3. "I Need You Need Me"
    Released: April 1973 (UK)
  4. "Last Night I Had A Dream"
    Released: June 1973 (US)
  5. "Solid Gold"
    Released: 1973 (US promo)[1][2]

Mothers Pride (sometimes spelled Mother's Pride) is the fourth studio album by American rock band Fanny, released in February 1973 on Reprise.[3] Produced by Todd Rundgren, it was the band's last album to feature original members June Millington (guitar) and Alice de Buhr (drums),[4][5] and their final album for Reprise.

The album was reissued on CD in 2016 by Real Gone Music, expanded with eight bonus tracks.[6]

Background[edit]

Most of Mothers Pride was recorded in New York City at producer Todd Rundgren's Secret Sound Studio in January 1973. Keyboardist Nickey Barclay said in 1973: "The only person that the four of us could agree on to produce us — that was available to produce us – was Todd, and he was into it. We'd done a few gigs with him, and he liked the idea."[7] In November 1972, Fanny recorded demos for the album at Spot Productions Limited in London,[8] and also recorded the track "Summer Song" at London's Olympic Studios the same month. It would be the only track on the album not recorded at Rundgren's Secret Sound.[9]

Guitarist June Millington and bassist Jean Millington later expressed dissatisfaction with the album, feeling it was overproduced.[10][11] They had wanted a more raw and live sounding production as well as input in the final mixes. "When it came to mixing the album, [Rundgren] essentially locked us out of the studio," Jean Millington said in 2003.[10]

The album includes two covers: Randy Newman's "Last Night I Had a Dream" and London pub band Uncle Dog's "Old Hat."[3] Nickey Barclay had often performed with Uncle Dog as a "floating member".[12]

Drummer Alice de Buhr's off key[13][14] lead vocal performance on "Solid Gold" was, according to Fanny's official website, recorded while drunk. The song would later be covered by the Who's Keith Moon on his 1975 album Two Sides of the Moon.[3]

The album takes its title from a line in the album track "I'm Satisfied",[15] and is also a nod to a brand of bread in the UK.[3]

June Millington and Alice de Buhr both left the band in late 1973.[16][17] The rest of the band continued with replacements and released one more album in 1974, Rock and Roll Survivors.[18]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
Robert ChristgauC+[13]
New Musical ExpressFavorable[14]

Charles Shaar Murray of the New Musical Express called the album "truly excellent", writing that Todd Rundgren's production "has made all the difference." He felt that "teaming him up with Fanny was definitely a masterstroke."[14] Music critic Robert Christgau's one line review said, "In which [former producer] Richard Perry bows to Todd Rundgren, June Millington aims for the balls and shoots some guy through the knee, and Alice de Buhr sings (off key) (best thing here)."[13]

Lindsay Planer, writing retrospectively for AllMusic, called Mothers Pride one of Fanny's "most ambitious efforts" where the band blend "anthem-esque rock with increasingly introspective ballads." Planer felt that the album contains some of the band's best original material, and noted that there is a "darker and more pensive edge pervading much of the album, perhaps suggesting the internal struggles that were beginning to divide and ultimately conquer the group."[19]

Reviewing the 2016 CD reissue, Tony Peters of the Icon Fetch website wrote, "Rundgren chose to scale back the hard rock of their previous album, Fanny Hill, in favor of emphasizing song structure and harmonies. The result, Mothers Pride, sounds more like a Todd solo album than anything Fanny did before." He highlighted "Long Road Home," which he called "another in a long line of Fanny songs that should've been hits," and "All Mine," which was "surprisingly soulful with a fantastic chorus."[20]

Track listing[edit]

Adapted from the 2016 reissue liner notes.[21]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Last Night I Had a Dream"Randy NewmanBarclay3:53
2."Long Road Home"June MillingtonJune Millington2:53
3."Old Hat"David SkinnerBarclay, Millington, Millington, de Buhr4:14
4."Solid Gold"Nickey Barclayde Buhr2:54
5."Is It Really You?"BarclayBarclay, Jean Millington5:18
6."All Mine"June Millington, Jean MillingtonMillington, Millington3:23
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
7."Summer Song"June MillingtonBarclay, Millington, Millington, de Buhr3:08
8."Polecat Blues"June MillingtonJune Millington3:12
9."Beside Myself"Barclay, Jean MillingtonJean Millington3:54
10."Regular Guy"BarclayBarclay2:22
11."I Need You Need Me"BarclayJean Millington, Barclay4:53
12."Feelings"Barclay, June MillingtonJune Millington1:59
13."I'm Satisfied"BarclayBarclay3:09
Total length:45:31
2016 expanded edition CD bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."Lonesome Pine" (demo)Barclay4:43
15."Beside Myself" (demo)Barclay, Jean Millington4:06
16."I'll Never Be the Same" (demo)June Millington4:08
17."All Mine" (demo)Millington, Millington4:25
18."Old Milwaukee" (demo)Tret Fure3:11
19."Long Road Home" (demo)June Millington3:29
20."Back in My Arms Again" (unissued recording)Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland3:43
21."'Till Then" (demo)June Millington0:18
Total length:73:24

Notes

Personnel[edit]

Adapted from the album's liner notes.[9]

Fanny

  • June Millington – guitar, acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals
  • Jean Millington – bass, lead and backing vocals
  • Nickey Barclay – piano, organ, keyboards, acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals
  • Alice de Buhr – drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • John Payne – flute (6)
  • Barry Rogers – trombone (8)
  • The Fannets (Todd, Jocko, Todd) – backing vocals (6)

Technical personnel

  • Todd Rundgren – producer, engineer, mixing (except 7), Cauliflower sound effect (6)[22]
  • Glyn Johns – engineer, mixing (7)
  • Andy Johns – engineer, mixing (7)
  • Rod Dyer, Inc. – design
  • Leandro Correa – cover photography
  • Bob Jenkins – liner photography

Notes

  • Horns, Mellotron and synthesizer are listed in the liner notes as "a joint collaboration".
  • The production on "Summer Song" (track 7) is credited to Fanny and Mark Hammerman on the label of its UK single release (Reprise – K 14220).[23] In the liner notes of the First Time in a Long Time: The Reprise Recordings box set, the production on "Summer Song" is credited to Paul Buckmaster and June Millington.[8]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Alice de Buhr in 2002: "We got really loaded and just played and played, and the next day I went back and mixed it down. That's why I was given credit for producing. I didn't really actually produce it. It was just us jamming, and nobody else wanted to go back and mix it."[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Fanny – Discography". 45cat.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "Singles & EPs". Discogs. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "The Music: Mothers Pride". fannyrocks.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  4. ^ O'Rourke, Sally. "ALBUM: Fanny, 'Fanny Hill'". rebeatmag.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  5. ^ "About Fanny". fannyrocks.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  6. ^ "Mother's Pride [Expanded Edition]". theseconddisc.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  7. ^ Murray, Charles Shaar (June 2, 1973). "Charles Shaar Murray talking to Fanny". New Musical Express. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d First Time in a Long Time: The Reprise Recordings (Box set liner notes). Fanny. Rhino Handmade. 2002.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ a b Mothers Pride (Album liner notes). Fanny. Reprise. 1973.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ a b Blizzard, Nicole (2003). "Fanny Week Presents; Wonderful Feeling". TechnoDyke.com. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2003-10-15. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  11. ^ Blizzard, Nicole (2002). "Fanny Week Presents; Taking the Long Road Home". TechnoDyke.com. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2003-09-03. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  12. ^ Blizzard, Nicole (2002). "Fanny Week Presents; Changing Horses in Mid-Stream: A TechnoDyke Interview with Nickey Barclay: Extended Version". TechnoDyke.com. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2003-08-04. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c Christgau, Robert. "CG: Fanny". Robert Christgau. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c Murray, Charles Shaar (April 28, 1973). "Album review". New Musical Express. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  15. ^ Jackson, Andrew Grant (2019). 1973: Rock at the Crossroads. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-1250299987. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  16. ^ Yarm, Mark (May 25, 2022). "The All-Female Band Fanny Made History. A New Doc Illuminates It". New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Blizzard, Nicole (2002). "Fanny Week Presents; She's Got the Beat". TechnoDyke.com. pp. 4–6. Archived from the original on 2003-08-06. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  18. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Fanny Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Planer, Lindsay. "Mothers Pride review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  20. ^ Peters, Tony (September 8, 2016). "Fanny – Mother's Pride (review)". Icon Fetch. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  21. ^ Mothers Pride (Album liner notes). Fanny. Real Gone Music. 2016.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ^ Myers, Paul (2010). A Wizard, A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio (1st ed.). London: Jawbone Press. p. 123.
  23. ^ "Summer Song label credits". Discogs. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
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