Shelagh McDonald
Encyclopedia
Shelagh McDonald is a Scottish folk singer, song-writer and guitarist who released two albums before her abrupt and mysterious disappearance in 1971. On her albums, she was backed up by many notables within the English folk-rock scene, including Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks
, Danny Thompson
, Keith Tippett
, Keith Christmas
, the Fotheringay
rhythm section, as well as Ian Whiteman
, Roger Powell and Michael Evans, then members of Mighty Baby
.
On 23 June 2005, by which time McDonald's albums had been reissued on CD, an article by Charles Donovan appeared in The Independent, the first high profile piece about McDonald's disappearance. This prompted copycat features in local papers, the Glasgow Herald and the Scottish Daily Mail. It was the latter of these that caught the eye of McDonald herself. In November 2005, McDonald turned up in the offices of the Scottish Daily Mail and told them her story. She retreated from public life after a bad LSD trip left her paranoid and hallucinating, with a ruined voice. Living with her parents and working privately in Edinburgh, she met and married bookseller Gordon Farquhar; together, they lived a nomadic lifestyle in north Britain, living on welfare benefits and moving from house to house, and later tent to tent.
As of 2005, McDonald says her voice has improved and she is again interested in music, and the renewed interest in her work by the public surprised and gratified her. Since then, however, nothing more has been heard of her.
Dave Mattacks
Dave Mattacks is a rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician, and as a performance artist...
, Danny Thompson
Danny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
, Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett is a British jazz pianist and composer.Tippett, the son of a local police officer, went to Greenway Boys Secondary Modern school in Southmead, Bristol. He formed his first jazz band called The KT7 whilst still at school and they performed numbers popular at the time by The Temperance...
, Keith Christmas
Keith Christmas
Keith Christmas is an English singer and songwriter. In 1969 his first album Stimulus was released...
, the Fotheringay
Fotheringay
Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
rhythm section, as well as Ian Whiteman
Ian Whiteman
Ian Whiteman is a musician, calligrapher and graphic designer from England.- Musical career :Whiteman's early musical career included the band The Action, a 1960s London-based mod and soul music-influenced pop group; he was in Mighty Baby for a while before becoming a session musician, backing...
, Roger Powell and Michael Evans, then members of Mighty Baby
Mighty Baby
Mighty Baby were formed in 1968 from the ashes of The Action. They released two albums, Mighty Baby and A Jug Of Love . Their debut, a collection of psychedelic rock, appeared on the tiny Head record label in the UK, and on Chess in the United States...
.
On 23 June 2005, by which time McDonald's albums had been reissued on CD, an article by Charles Donovan appeared in The Independent, the first high profile piece about McDonald's disappearance. This prompted copycat features in local papers, the Glasgow Herald and the Scottish Daily Mail. It was the latter of these that caught the eye of McDonald herself. In November 2005, McDonald turned up in the offices of the Scottish Daily Mail and told them her story. She retreated from public life after a bad LSD trip left her paranoid and hallucinating, with a ruined voice. Living with her parents and working privately in Edinburgh, she met and married bookseller Gordon Farquhar; together, they lived a nomadic lifestyle in north Britain, living on welfare benefits and moving from house to house, and later tent to tent.
As of 2005, McDonald says her voice has improved and she is again interested in music, and the renewed interest in her work by the public surprised and gratified her. Since then, however, nothing more has been heard of her.
Discography
- The Shelagh McDonald Album - B&C Records, 1970
- Stargazer - B&C Records, 1971
- Let No Man Steal Your ThymeLet No Man Steal Your Thyme (album)Let No Man Steal Your Thyme is a two CD compilation album of the music of Shelagh McDonald released in 2005 on the Castle Music imprint of Sanctuary Records. The compilation contains various outtakes, live recordings and rarities in addition to the material originally released on The Shelagh...
- Sanctuary Records, 2005
External links
- Shelagh McDonald fan site - originally established 1999 in hopes of learning her fate
- From the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
: a version of the site from 30 September 2004, before McDonald turned up.