Artist:Friend & LoverSong:Reach Out Of The Darkness
Album:Flower Power: The Music of the Love Generation
Reach Out Of The Darkness was a top ten hit in 1968. It was the only big hit for Friend & Lover. They had one other chart single so it is technically not a one hit wonder. I guess the song typifies The Summer Of Love. Friend & Lover was the husband and wife duo of Jim and Cathy Post. Jim Post is a veteran folksinger from Houston. His folk group The Rum Runners were on tour and he met dancer Cathy Conn at a show in Alberta. They got married and moved to Chicago. Post wrote all the songs for Friend & Lover. The single If Tomorrow released by ABC-Paramount went nowhere. But MGM Records head Jerry Schoenbaum liked the demo for Reach Out Of The Darkness and signed Friend & Lover to Verve Forecast Records. The record was produced in Nashville by Joe South and veteran music publisher Bill Lowery. Ray Stevens wrote the arrangement and played piano. It reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. You can get it on this 3CD Time Life various artists box set. Post says he wrote the song after attending a love in in New York City. It became a flower power anthem. Friend & Lover recorded one album for Verve Forecast that didn't sell. Columbia offered them a deal but MGM wouldn't let them out of their contract. The Posts divorced. Cathy lives in New Mexico. Jim Post is still around. He recorded for Fantasy Records in the 70s and Flying Fish in the 80s. He lives in Chicago and still performs and records on his own label, most recently in 2009. Here's a video for Reach Out Of The Darkness by Friend & Lover.
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