Meadow, Laura Branigan and "Folk-Rock" of the early 1970s
When I was a kid, I had a 45 rpm record of the song "Cane and Able" by some band named Meadow. I knew nothing of the band or the song. It was given to me by the lunchroom lady of my elementary school who also happened to hold a summer Bible camp in her garage every year. I listened to the song several times and never forgot it. Not that the song was particularly good. But it did have an interesting hook: "Throw away your cane and you are able." Over the years I lost track of the record, but never forgot the song. It stuck with me for almost forty years. I could hum the song and sing much of the lyrics. I went searching for it and found the full album on Ebay, of course. So I bought it and became reintroduced to a band that was such a part of my childhood without me even realizing it at the time. The album is called The Friend Ship and its cover is adorned with four hippies, locked hand in hand, floating above the groun...