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Its been a long time coming, butAfter Laughter Comes Tearsis the first ever anthology of southern soul legend Wendy Rene, whose classic, organ-driven After Laughter (Comes Tears) has been covered or sampled by everyone from Wu Tang Clan (Tearz, from36 Chambers) to Alicia Keys (Where Do We Go From Here), Lykke Li and El Perro Del Mar. If I could sing like anyone, said Lykke Li, It would be her.
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-founder Jim Stewart, and won a deal on the spot. As soon as we finished with the Drapels songs and [the rest of the band] were going to the bus stop, I showed Mr. Stewart my songs, 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 thats The MGs on the groups Young Man, Booker T. Jones playing organ on After Laughter and Steve Cropper playing guitar on the dance craze-inspired Bar-B-Q, the success of which caused Wendy then a teen bride to leave school.
The Drapels dissolved almost as quickly as Wendys first marriage, partly due to the attention lavished on youngest member Wendys 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. I wanted a baby to hold and coochie-coo to, and I didnt want to miss any more time away from my kids, 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 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 a friend of her son heard Wu Tang Clans Tearz on the radio. As new generations of artists have rediscovered Wendy Renes work, they have touched her life in various ways: Alicia Keyss remake of After Laughter, Where Do We Go From Here, for example, helped pay for her current home. Keys tried to meet up with Rene when she played in Memphis. I wasnt able to do it, 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 Wendys beloved brother Johnny had died suddenly in June 2010 and performing brought back a flood of memories. I was so choked up I wasnt able to perform like I wanted, 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.
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- Artist: Wendy Rene Label: Light In The Attic Format: LP Units: 2 Country: US Genre: Soul & Funk Style: Soul
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A1 Bar-B-Q
A2 Gone For Good
A3 Your Love Is All I Need
A4 After Laughter Comes Tears
A5 I Wish I Were That Girl
A6 What Will Tomorrow Bring
B1 Wondering (When My Love Is Coming Home)
B2 Deep In My Heart
B3 Give You What I Got
B4 Crying All By Myself
B5 Crowded Park
B6 Last Love
C1 Love At First Sight
C2 She’S Moving Away
C3 He Hasn’T Failed Me Yet
C4 Please Don’T Leave Me
C5 The Same Guy
D1 Young Man
D2 Can’T Stay Away
D3 First Kiss
D4 Reap What You Sow
D5 Young And Foolish
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