Sound Colour Vibration (Music | Art | Film | Technology | Science | Culture)

Soul and R&B legend Wendy Rene of the prolific Memphis, Tennessee record label Stax Records was one of the most underrated singers on the label, with a voice that comes from a rich gospel background and tons of AM radio broadcasts of the regions best music, Wendy Rene is now receiving the acclaim that was well deserved all those years ago. Archival record label Light in the Attic has prepared all of her singles along with rarities and unreleased material in a new compilation called After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Volt & Stax Singles + Rarities 1964-65 that is one of the most definitive statements on the recording career of Wendy Rene before her exile from the recording industry. Wendy’s reputation during her Stax years along with fate was intertwined with influential and popular soul and R&B singer Otis Redding. Redding gave her the name Wendy Rene for her Stax recording contract and in terms of fate, Wendy had agreed to perform a concert with Otis Redding and The Bar-Kays in Wisconsin and later backed out last minute from the new arrival of pregnancy. This same flight is the one that took the lives of all aboard excerpt for a trumpet player by the name of Ben Cauley. It was shortly after this experience and many around it that Wendy left the public eye. This occurred in 1967 and was 3 years after the arrival of her first and what was probably her biggest release to date, the “After Laughter, Comes Tears” single on Stax Records.

The subsidiary of Stax, Volt Records is also given attention with this release in the form of the vocal heavy group The Drapels. Pre-dating Wendy Rene’s signing with Stax a year or so before her first sing release ‘After Laughter Comes Years’, the group was based around her brother Johnny Frierson and vocalists Marianne Brittenum and Wilbur Mondie. Under her real name Mary Frierson, the vocal tandem and harmony was already in place, but she was not given the full space to do what she would later achieve with her own recordings. After signing with Stax, she showed the label her own music and she signed with the label immediately. The Drapels were also short lived and recorded two singles, both with b-sides for the Volt label. All of this material has been presented on After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Volt & Stax Singles + Rarities 1964-65, something that really defines why this retrospective legacy piece is so important.

The body of work presented on After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Volt & Stax Singles + Rarities 1964-65 shows Wendy Rene as she recorded her first single still in high school to the separation of a marriage that occurred shortly after she left school early to pursue her music career and played the Apollo and toured extensively with major recording artists. Stax was connected to Atlantic Records, so the opportunity to reach large audiences through touring was utilized in full when Wendy had the chance. Wendy Rene was in and out during the mid 60′s, a time of political and social change of the highest degrees. Now with After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Volt & Stax Singles + Rarities 1964-65, her legacy will forever be enshrined in the format it has always deserved, a comprehensive collection with beautiful photos and an exclusive interview in the liner notes. with Wendy Rene inside of her home. ‘After Laughter Comes Tears’ was released in August of 1964 and was the first solo material Wendy Rene gave to the world. The inclusion of Stax in house session organist Booker T. Jones his signature Hammon b-3 sound to ‘After Laughter, Comes Tears’ gives this song a really different feeling than anything else on the compilation and serves as her definitive song and one of the most recognized soul songs of 1964. Wendy recorded back up vocals for some of the biggest name in soul music and the musical story of Wendey Rene is explained in full with After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Volt & Stax Singles + Rarities 1964-65. Truly a must own item for any fans of 60′s soul music.

-Erik Otis

Wendy Rene
After Laughter Comes Tears
Complete Volt & Stax Singles + Rarities 1964-65
Light in the Attic Records

1. Bar B Q
2. Gone For Good
3. Your Love Is All I Need
4. After Laughter (Comes Tears)
5. I Wish I Were That Girl
6. 06] What Will Tomorrow Bring
7. Wondering (When My Love Is Coming Home)
8. Deep In My Heart
9. Give You What I Got
10. Crying All By Myself
11. Crowded Park
12. Last Love
13. Love At First Sight
14. She’s Moving Away
15. He Hasn’t Failed Me Yet
16. Please Don’t Leave Me
17. The Same Guy
18. Young Man
19. Can’t Stay Away
20. First Kiss
21. Reap What You Sow
22. Young And Foolish

Buy the CD or Digital format from Light in the Attic Records (Vinyl is Sold Out)

Wendy Rene “After Laughter Comes Tears” | 2xLP | What’s Inside?

*Photo courtesy of Wendy Rene and Light in the Attic Records