Fanny: Charity Ball - 1971
This is immediately apparent with the rollicking, barroom rock of Charity Ball, although for me the "ooh ooh" vocals are a bit questionable. The "I need you, you, you" bit would seem to be a direct lift from Solomon Burke/The Rolling Stones' Everybody Needs Somebody To Love. It's a lively cut, but there is a bit of graininess to the song's sound, however. This is rectified on the bassy and bluesy chug of What Kind Of Love. The vocal on this one is particularly raw and throaty, a change from the sweeter tones of the previous album. The mid-song guitar is great too. Kinda funky, man.
Cat Fever also has that vaguely bluesy rock grind to it, with the piano clunking away in the back ground. This is altogether edgier, rockier fare than the previous album had given us. Four tracks in I knew a ballad would be up next and it duly arrives with A Person Like You. I think it is keyboardist Nickey Barclay on vocals and they sort of grate a bit. I have to say. There is a sort of vibe of Elton John's material from the same period to the song as well.
The group's cover of Stephen Stills' (Buffalo Springfield's) Special Care is a good one, exhibiting the powerful, sightly soulful rock sound that Fanny could deliver. What's Wrong With Me, in contrast, is a hippy-ish airy, acoustic ballad. Cowbell, guitar and bass-driven rock is back, though, on the excellent Soul Child, a song which perfectly exemplifies the best Fanny had to offer. Get a load of that organ. Two minutes in it is positively Purple-esque. Lyrically it sort of makes me think it is a precursor to Blondie's Rip Her To Shreds, as the group lay into a no-good girl.
You're The One is another fine track - a slow-burning serving of Fanny-funk. I love that fuzz guitar solo. Nice powerful drums too. Thinking Of You now sounds a bit dated, however. A breezy rock ballad of its time. Place In The Country returns to the rock with a funky tinge thing. The album ends, as seventies albums often did, with a slowie, the pleasant, country-tinged A Little While Later.
Although most critics opt for this over the debut, I come down on the side of the 1970 album, going against the grain as I often seem to do. Incidentally, the "first versions" of both Charity Ball and Place In The Country - available on the group's Complete Albums box set - are much better than the "second versions" that appear on this album.
