Biography
Stax executives removed Wendy Rene—born Mary Frierson—from the Drapels once the group had issued its pair of singles. Deannie Parker, a Stax staffer who also recorded and wrote songs, supplied the new stage name. One month after the label put out the Drapels’ last single, it issued “After Laughter Comes Tears” in August 1964 under Wendy Rene’s name alone, even though the full quartet had cut the track. The decision led Wilbur Mondie to enroll in college and prompted the remaining members, Johnny Frierson and Marianne Brittenum, to reconsider their futures. The Memphis, TN, native’s heartfelt ballad nevertheless became her biggest success.
A road trip with Rufus Thomas took her to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY. Returning home with a monkey purchased in New York created friction with her parents, since Rene was still a teenager living under their roof. During the 1960s a monkey functioned as a visible status symbol; owners dressed the animals in tuxedos and let them ride beside them in convertibles. Soul singer Edwin Starr was among those who briefly kept one. The pattern was simple: score a hit, purchase a convertible, and acquire a monkey.
Without Mondie, the remaining Drapels supplied uncredited backing vocals on Rufus Thomas’s “Jump Back” b/w “All Night Worker” as well as on recordings by Carla Thomas and Otis Redding. Recognizing limited prospects, Johnny Frierson and Marianne Brittenum turned their attention to songwriting and, with other collaborators, contributed to several notable releases while Stax continued to call on them, uncredited, for Rene’s sessions. Her follow-up, “Bar-B-Q,” appeared in November 1964 and carried a vocal approach that anticipated the Jackson Five, whose own first recordings would not arrive until 1968. Subsequent dates produced “Give You What I Got” b/w “Reap What You Sow,” issued in May 1965, and “I Wish I Were That Girl,” yet nothing matched the impact of her debut single, and Stax eventually ended its support.
Ace Records later assembled the CD You Thrill My Soul, which includes previously unreleased Rene material, and also reissued singles by both the Drapels and Rene. The artists were surprised to receive royalty statements from these reissues. Larger payments arrived from songwriting credits on “After Laughter Comes Tears,” the track Wu-Tang Clan later reworked as “Tearz.” After marrying, Rene became Mary Cross, raised a daughter, joined the Bountiful Blessing Church in Memphis, and sings with its Bountiful Blessing Choir.
A road trip with Rufus Thomas took her to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY. Returning home with a monkey purchased in New York created friction with her parents, since Rene was still a teenager living under their roof. During the 1960s a monkey functioned as a visible status symbol; owners dressed the animals in tuxedos and let them ride beside them in convertibles. Soul singer Edwin Starr was among those who briefly kept one. The pattern was simple: score a hit, purchase a convertible, and acquire a monkey.
Without Mondie, the remaining Drapels supplied uncredited backing vocals on Rufus Thomas’s “Jump Back” b/w “All Night Worker” as well as on recordings by Carla Thomas and Otis Redding. Recognizing limited prospects, Johnny Frierson and Marianne Brittenum turned their attention to songwriting and, with other collaborators, contributed to several notable releases while Stax continued to call on them, uncredited, for Rene’s sessions. Her follow-up, “Bar-B-Q,” appeared in November 1964 and carried a vocal approach that anticipated the Jackson Five, whose own first recordings would not arrive until 1968. Subsequent dates produced “Give You What I Got” b/w “Reap What You Sow,” issued in May 1965, and “I Wish I Were That Girl,” yet nothing matched the impact of her debut single, and Stax eventually ended its support.
Ace Records later assembled the CD You Thrill My Soul, which includes previously unreleased Rene material, and also reissued singles by both the Drapels and Rene. The artists were surprised to receive royalty statements from these reissues. Larger payments arrived from songwriting credits on “After Laughter Comes Tears,” the track Wu-Tang Clan later reworked as “Tearz.” After marrying, Rene became Mary Cross, raised a daughter, joined the Bountiful Blessing Church in Memphis, and sings with its Bountiful Blessing Choir.
Albums
Singles
Live
