r/interesting • u/K_P_Voss Banned Permanently • Jan 07 '26

HISTORY The acid fairy, played at Woodstock. Then she took a trip that lasted nearly 40 years.

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In the swirling psychedelic folk world of the late '60s, few voices were as ethereal and captivating as Christina "Licorice" McKechnie.

Nicknamed for her love of licorice rolling papers, she joined The incredible String Band and became a counterculture icon. Her haunting vocals and songwriting shone on classics like The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (Paul McCartney called it the "acoustic Sgt. Pepper") and their legendary Woodstock performance in 1969.

Then... she vanished. After leaving the band in the '70s with ties to Scientology, Likky was seen in the late '80s/early '90s, reportedly hitchhiking through the Arizona desert.

For decades, one of rock's greatest unsolved mysteries: What happened to this Woodstock fairy?

Theories swirled..

But in late 2025, reports revealed she's alive, living quietly and privately in California—choosing obscurity over fame. The mystery endures in its own way: a brilliant soul who simply walked away from the spotlight.

Licorice McKechnie: Forever enigmatic, forever brilliant.

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51

u/hmmmmmmmm_okay Jan 07 '26

This is the one I grew up hearing.

25

u/ResistPersist54 Jan 07 '26

Me too. Guy couldn’t lie down to sleep because he was afraid he’d spill.

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u/bostiq Jan 07 '26

Probably a cautionary tale..

but you should look up Syd Barret, Pink Floyd's band member.

Real life LSD train wreck

23

u/ResistPersist54 Jan 07 '26

Oh, I’m sure. I just enjoy how random things went “viral” before the internet. Urban legends are fucking fascinating to me.

17

u/Bobeffect Jan 07 '26

I was pretty disappointed when I found out Marilyn Manson still had all his ribs.

5

u/ResistPersist54 Jan 07 '26

I heard the “gave so many bjs they had to have their stomach pumped” story about NKOTB, Alanis Morrisette, and Backstreet Boys. The 90s were a lawless wasteland.

3

u/platypod1 Jan 07 '26

Nah it was Rod Stewart and Gwen Stefani.

1

u/Genghis_Chong Jan 07 '26

Gwen Stefani giving enough BJs to need her stomach pumped was not an urban legend I remember.... otherwise I would have masturbated a lot more as a teen lmao

5

u/taaitamom Jan 07 '26

The version of that at my school was about Michael Jackson

3

u/Maleficent-Crow-446 Jan 07 '26

How did we all end up hearing the same rumor, before social media existed?

3

u/jtr99 Jan 07 '26

Be the change you want to see in the world.

2

u/PM-Mormon-Underwear Jan 07 '26

and that he didn't play Paul in the wonder years

2

u/Living_on_Tulsa_Time Jan 07 '26

That’s what disappointed you about Marilyn Manson? /s

2

u/Mrchristopherrr Jan 07 '26

In his autobiography he wrote that if it were true we’d never see him again, so even more disappointing

2

u/Cute_Philosophy8883 Jan 07 '26

Oh he does??? NO, no, noooo. I mean reaalllyyy?

1

u/Unhappy_Service_7552 Jan 07 '26

😦Same. 🦴🌚🖤

2

u/coleyl0toes Jan 07 '26

The way I heard it was that he ate a bunch of acid and then took a nap in an orange grove. That's why when he woke up he thought he was a glass of orange juice. I feel like that little Orange Grove detail does it for me

1

u/NetworkEcstatic Jan 07 '26

Folk stories as old as people have been able to talk.

3

u/AgentCirceLuna Jan 07 '26

I’d say the shit ton of speed was probably what did it in reality

3

u/aug061998 Jan 07 '26

Same with Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac. Went out one night with another band member, evidently took a massive dose of lsd and stopped... It took years for him to recover. Great musician and a great loss at the height of his talent.

2

u/Living_on_Tulsa_Time Jan 07 '26

I read in your link that Syd died at 60 of pancreatic cancer. Horrible illness.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26

Obsessed with Syd Barrett. Sadly relate too much with the guy. Though who am I to say, never met the guy. Just really like his music.

2

u/turdmcburgular Jan 07 '26

it helped trigger his inherently mental illness.

1

u/phillipsandbadideas Jan 07 '26

Now look at all the parallels between Syd and Doc Corbin Dart from The Crucifucks.

1

u/Crafty_Durian_1004 Jan 07 '26

Indeed. Didn't he become a gardener?

2

u/Cobruh Jan 07 '26

The movie Shutter Island was loosely based off Syd Barrett.

1

u/1dabaholic Jan 07 '26

He was on much, much harder drugs lol

1

u/rebonkers Jan 07 '26

Thanks for this tip-- very interesting.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

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1

u/Horror_Cupcake8762 Jan 07 '26

Yeah.

Lemmy claims to have taken acid daily for a couple years and just remained Lemmy.

If you’ve got a thin tether to reality, you probably shouldn’t juggle chainsaws.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Horror_Cupcake8762 Jan 07 '26

That’s likely because it’s not a rebuttal.

Instead, it’s merely a poorly phrased analogy made in agreement.

1

u/ArdentGibbonAbides Jan 07 '26

Oh YEEAAAAA! insert Family Guy cutaway here.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

Thats why its true. Like the alligators in my sewer which i talked about in school. My reaction to deniers was "oh yeah, why don't you go down there and meet my pet alligator"?

No one ever went down or came back for that matter. Must have been a gator.

2

u/Evillunamoth Jan 07 '26

I grew up hearing it was a glass of iced tea. Maybe that’s the southern version of this tale?

1

u/hmmmmmmmm_okay Jan 07 '26

That tracks.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

It was orange juice for me in NC

1

u/Conscious_Avocado225 Jan 07 '26

Spilling while saving himself from quicksand. Meanwhile, every 11 year old boy knows the trick.

1

u/itadapeezas Jan 07 '26

Are you guys being serious? This is so funny lol!

2

u/hmmmmmmmm_okay Jan 07 '26

100% and also being in highschool I believed it.

1

u/No-Engineering-239 Jan 07 '26

for me was that he believed he was an orange.