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Friend & Lover was an American folk-singing duo composed of husband-and-wife team Jim and Cathy Post. The duo is best known for its hit single "Reach out of the Darkness", which reached number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1968.[1]

Biographical information

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Cathy Conn was born May 30, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. She had a background in song and dance before meeting her future husband Jim Post at a Canadian provincial fair in 1964. Their marriage and the band eventually broke up. Cathy remarried twice, became Cat Conn, had three children and five grandchildren, and lived for a short time in the mountains of New Mexico.[2] In 2015 or 2016, she moved back into Chicago to live out the rest of her days with two of her grandchildren and one of her first children. She died in Evanston, Illinois, on July 4, 2018, at 73.[3]

Jim Post was born October 28, 1939, in Houston, Texas.[4] He had previously performed with a folk group, The Rum Runners. He went on to record solo albums for labels such as Flying Fish Records and Fantasy Records.[4] Post died in Dubuque, Iowa, after a long illness on September 14, 2022, at the age of 82.[5]

Reach out of the Darkness

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Jim, inspired by a New York City love-in, wrote the duo's only significant hit single, "Reach Out of the Darkness".[6] The song was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, with Ray Stevens and Joe South on the session, and released on the Verve Forecast label[7] (although the Verve Records Discography had a completely different account of the song and its flip "Time on Your Side (You're Only 15 Years Old)" being recorded on August 23, 1967, in New York City, but the location was updated some time later to Atlanta, Georgia, nevertheless still with the sides reversed).[8] The song made the U.S. Top 10 chart in June 1968 and was adopted as a kind of anthem by the protest movement against American politics of the time.[9] It was re-released as the title track of a follow-up album in 1969. The song appeared in the movie 1969, Aquarius: "A Change is Gonna Come" (season 1, episode 5), Beverly Hills, 90210: "The Time Has Come Today" (season 4, episode 25),[10] and Mad Men: "Man With a Plan" (season 6, episode 7).[11]

Discography

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Albums

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Year Album Record Label
1968 Reach Out of the Darkness Verve Forecast Records

Track listing

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  1. "Boston Is a Lovely Town"
  2. "I'm a Woman, I'm a Man"
  3. "Zig-Zag"
  4. "Saturday's Hero"
  5. "Room to Let (to Rowena with Love)"
  6. "Reach out of the Darkness"
  7. "A Wise Man Changes His Mind"
  8. "Ode to a Dandelion"
  9. "If Love Is in Your Heart"
  10. "The Weddin' March (I Feel Groovy)"
  11. "The Way We Were in the Beginning"

Singles

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Year Title Peak chart
position 		Record Label B-side Album
US
1965 "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag"
(as Jim and Cathy) 		– Cadet Records "People Stand Back"
1967 "A Town Called Love" – ABC Records "If Tomorrow"
"Reach out of the Darkness" 10 Verve Forecast
Records 		"Time on Your Side
(You're Only 15 Years Old)" 		Reach out of the Darkness
1968 "If Love Is in Your Heart" 86 "Zig-Zag"
1969 "Circus" – "I Want to Be Free"
"A Wise Man Changes His Mind" – "Ode to a Dandelion" Reach out of the Darkness
1970 "Hard Lovin'" – Cadet Concept Records "Colorado Exile"

References

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  1. ^ "Single: The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard Music Charts. 1968-08-17. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  2. ^ "Friend and Lover - 'Reach out of the Darkness'". Mentalitch.com. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  3. ^ "Cat Rae Conn: Obituary". Evanston Funeral & Cremation. 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  4. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 921. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  5. ^ "Jim Post, Singer-Songwriter Who Scored ’68 Hit With ‘Reach Out of the Darkness,’ Dies", Best Classic Bands, September 17, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022
  6. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Friend & Lover - Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  7. ^ Unterberger, Richie (2000). "Liner Notes for Friend & Lover's "Reach out of the Darkness"". Richieunterberger.com. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  8. ^ "Verve Records Discography 1967". Jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  9. ^ Monger, James Christopher. "Reach Out of the Darkness - Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  10. ^ ""The Time Has Come Today" episode". TV.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  11. ^ Bonnie Stiernberg (May 13, 2013). "Mad Men Review: "Man With a Plan" (Episode 6.07)". Paste.
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