Artist: Wendy Rene
Album: After Laughter Comes Tears
Genre: Soul
Bitrate: VBR Kbits/s
Playtime: 63:00 min
Tracks: 22
Rip Date: Mar-03-2016
Street Date: 000-00-0000
Label: Light In The Attic Records
01 Bar B Q 02:31
02 Gone for Good 02:20
03 Your Love is All I Need 02:26
04 After Laughter (Comes Tears) 03:03
05 I Wish I Were that Girl 02:38
06 What Will Tomorrow Bring 02:43
07 Wondering (When My Love is Coming) 02:17
08 Deep in My Heart 02:55
09 Give You What I Got 03:33
10 Crying All by Myself 02:38
11 Crowded Park 03:14
12 Last Love 03:05
13 Love at First Sight 02:57
14 She's Moving Away 03:30
15 He Hasn't Failed Me Yet 03:28
16 Please Don't Leave Me 02:13
17 The Same Guy 03:00
18 Young Man 02:37
19 Can't Stay Away 02:27
20 First Kiss 03:23
21 Reap What You Sow 02:54
22 Young and Foolish 03:08
Complete Stax & Volt Singles + Rarities (1964-1965)
Born Mary Frierson in Memphis, Tennessee, home of Stax
Records, Wendy Rene was christened by Otis Redding on
signing to Stax as a teenager in 1963.
Back then, she and brother Johnny Frierson, both singers at
the Church of God In Christ, were determined to make it in
music. Forming singing quartet The Drapels with two
friends, they took the bus to 926 E. McLemore Avenue,
auditioned for Stax co-fou
under Jim Stewart, and won a deal on the spot. ôAs soon as
we finished with the DrapelsÆ songs and [the rest of the
band] were going to the bus stop, I showed Mr. Stewart my
songs,ö recalls Rene. The result? Stewart found two acts in
one, and Mary had two contracts with Stax.
Both Drapels and Wendy began recording with the greats û
thatÆs The MGs on the groupÆs ôYoung Manö, Booker T. Jones
playing organ on ôAfter Laughterö and Steve Cropper playing
guitar on the dance craze-inspired ôBar-B-Qö, the success
of which caused Wendy û then a teen bride û to leave
school.
The Drapels dissolved almost as quickly as WendyÆs first
marriage, partly due to the attention lavished on youngest
member WendyÆs solo career. But a real hit eluded the
singer, and in 1967, with a growing family with second
husband and Stax employee James Cross, Wendy decided to
retire from the business. ôI wanted a baby to hold and
coochie-coo to, and I didnÆt want to miss any more time
away from my kids,ö she says.
Wendy was due to perform one last show with Otis Redding
and the Bar-Kays, but changed her mind at the last minute.
It was an auspicious decision û that weekend, Redding and
four Bar-Kays died when their plane crashed in Lake Monona.
Mary mourned her friends but not her music career. She
taught harmony to her children and she sang in church, not
in the studio. Then, in 1993, something strange happened û
a friend of her son heard Wu Tang ClanÆs ôTearzö on the
radio. As new generations of artists have rediscovered
Wendy ReneÆs work, they have touched her life in various
ways: Alicia KeysÆs remake of ôAfter Laughteràö, ôWhere Do
We Go From Hereö, for example, helped pay for her current
home. Keys tried to meet up with Rene when she played in
Memphis. ôI wasnÆt able to do it,ö says Wendy, revealing
little.
In September 2010, Wendy Rene returned to live performance,
albeit very briefly, playing a set at Ponderosa Stomp in
New Orleans. It was to be a bittersweet occasion û WendyÆs
beloved brother Johnny had died suddenly in June 2010 and
performing brought back a flood of memories. ôI was so
choked up I wasnÆt able to perform like I wanted,ö she
admits. Though her career was brief, Wendy Rene left behind
a thrilling catalogue of classic soul. Here, Light In The
Attic gives it the archive treatment it richly deserves.
Listen, delve and enjoy.