Singer-Songwriter Jim Post, 1939-2022

Jim Post, a singer-songwriter who was a fixture on the folk music scene in Chicago for more than 50 years, died on September 14, 2022 following a long illness.

Post, who billed himself as a ‘modest minstrel and entertainer, ‘ was born in Houston ,Texas on October 28, 1939 and raised in the deep woods of southeast Texas. Initially engaged in church revival and backwoods music, Post embarked on a music career in the 1960s as part of a Houston-based folk group known as the Rum Runners. Later that decade, he formed a duo, Friend & Lover, with his then-wife Cathy. Post’s anthemic song “Reach Out of the Darkness” off the then New York-based duo’s debut (and only) album of the same name on Verve Forecast became a national hit in the summer of 1968 — reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 music charts. After splitting from his wife, Post moved to the Chicago area, where he became a regular presence on the city’s Old Town folk circuit and in 1971 produced and performed on Gathering at the Earl of Old Town, along with other Chicago folk artists. Among them was Steve Goodman, whose first recording of “City of New Orleans” appears on the album.

Post recorded and released many albums as a solo singer-songwriter and toured extensively throughout the Midwest during the 1970s and 1980s — and beyond. He accompanied his clear tenor voice with guitar and also injected a good dose of humor into his concerts.

“To attend a Jim Post concert was to look forward to an evening of great songs – some serious, some humorous – glorious almost angelic singing, and exuberant and often improvised storytelling,” recalled Sue Kessell, host of The Folk Show on WNUR in Evanston, Illinois. “ It was always a memorable event, which left you with a smile on your face. You were never disappointed.”

Also an actor and playwright, Post performed a one-man show as Mark Twain during the 1990s and 2000s. In 1997, the American Library Association honored Post with an award for the music from Mark Twain and Laughing River. He also recorded an album of children’s songs called Frog in the Kitchen Sink in 2000, and co-wrote several children’s books with his second wife, Janet, with whom he lived in Galena, Illinois.