This is a sort of difficult post, I will however make it a Happy Birthday, things will become clear as you read on.
I sometimes don’t know what is going to crop up on the anniversary fronts, some are easy, like The Battle of Largs one from earlier, it pops up in other posts throughout the year concerning one of our most written about Kings, Alexander III, then there’s our birthday girl today, “Licorice” McKechnie, who I hope is somewhere enjoying her day, please read on to make sense of my words.
Christina ‘Licorice’ McKechnie was born in Edinburgh in 1945, there is nothing about her early life online that I can find, her story starts when she left home-and was set to marry, the late great Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch. The banns had been called, (Banns were a legal requirement and were an intention of marriage, posted for people to see in their parish,) the wedding never took place, Jansch left Scotland for Morroco.
It was some time after this that “Likkie” as she was known began a relationship with Robin Williamson who along with Robin, Clive Palmer and Mike Heron had formed The Incredible String Band. The group split for a time when Williamson and Likkie went travelling but reformed on their return as a duo with just Williamson and Heron. They later played on the same bill as Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell.
Likkie joined then as vocalist and they recorded the album, The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion. The band went on to have success touring but had little commercial success. They got involved with Scientology in the 60’s and it is said to have contributed to a decline in their music quality.
The Incredible String Band did however play Woodstock in 69. They were scheduled to play the first day and a fee of $4500 had been agreed, this would have been a huge sum for them back in the 60’s and you would have thought bigger things beckoned. The band didn’t appear on the film of the festival as they refused to play in the rain, their slot was taken by the fabulous Melanie (Safka) who later wrote “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” about her day, she had a global hit with Brand New Key in 1971.
It must have been dry next day as “String Band” eventually played on a mainly rock day, but the world missed out and so did they.
Rewinding a little by late 1969, the band had established a communal base at Glen Row near Innerleithen, Likkie and Robin split around this time although she remained in the group till 1972.
After a failed marriage to musician Brian Lambert she featured on an album with Williamson and his Merry men and an album with Woody Woodmansey’s band U-Boat.It’s after this that very little of her is known, Christina visited her family in Edinburgh in 1986, her sister said she was in Sacramento California four years later.
Music journalist Mark Ellen wrote in Mojo magazine in 2000 that she was “last seen in 1987 hitchhiking across the Arizona Desert. Not even her family has heard from her since.” Fellow former Incredible String Band member Rose Simpson was quoted as saying: “… There’s a possibility she may be dead.”
Trying to find info on Likkie is tough, some say she must be dead, there have been mentions that she (is) “living in plain sight in California” If she is still alive she will be 76 today, I hope she is, and I hope she is happy and still living the Hippie lifestyle she seemed to embrace.
I was listening and downloading some music earlier and this was one of the tracks that cropped, just a coincidence? Happy Birthday Likkie, where ever you are.
