The Svelts

THE SVELTS

After moving to the U. S. from the Philippines in 1961, guitarist June Millington and her sister, bass guitarist Jean Millington organized an all-girl band while they were in high school in Sacramento, CA that was called the Svelts; the other bandmembers were Addie Lee (guitar) and Brie Brandt (drums), who was later replaced on drums by Alice de Buhr.

After the Svelts disbanded, Alice de Buhr started yet another all-woman band called Wild Honey that June Millington and Jean Millington later joined; they eventually moved to Los Angeles. Wild Honey was on the brink of breaking up but made one last appearance at the L.A. nightclub the Troubadour. While there, they met Richard Perry, who arranged to have the band signed in 1969 to Reprise Records. After being signed, Wild Honey recruited keyboardist Nickey Barclay, who had played in Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” musical ensemble. The resulting band was called Fanny, which was the third all-female rock band to be signed by a major record label and the first to have a significant body of work.

June Millington and Alice de Buhr left Fanny after the fourth album; they were replaced by guitarist Patti Quatro (who was also a bandmember in the Pleasure Seekers) and Brie Brandt, who had drummed in their earlier band the Svelts. They came up with a final album in this line-up, Rock and Roll Survivors.

(October 2013)