Wendy Rene

Mary Frierson, later Mary Cross (1947 – December 16, 2014), better known by her stage name of Wendy Rene, was an American soul singer and songwriter. She recorded for Stax Records in the mid 1960s.

Biography Mary Frierson was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Her father, Beauregard Frierson, Sr., was of mixed race and married a Memphis woman, Catherine Anderson, who was nearly 20 years his junior; the couple had three sons and one daughter. The family were members of the Church of God in Christ.

As a teenager, Mary Frierson formed a singing quartet, the Drapels, with her brother Johnnie Frierson and two friends, Marianne Brittenum and Wilbur Mondie. They auditioned for Stax co-founder Jim Stewart in 1963, and were immediately offered a recording contract. Before leaving, Mary showed Stewart some of the songs she had written, and was also offered a solo contract. While in her teens, she married a military man, but the young couple soon parted ways.

She needed a stage name, and several options came up including the name Wendy Storm, suggested by Stax receptionist-turned PR head Deanie Parker. The record featured Booker T. Jones on organ.

Wendy Rene then retired from the music business and, as Mary Cross, devoted herself to her family and church, the Bountiful Blessing Church of God in Christ in Memphis. She and James Cross have five sons and one daughter. In 2010, she returned to the stage briefly at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans.

In 2003 Ace Records released a compilation CD of her recordings, You Thrill My Soul, which included several that were originally unreleased. Another compilation, After Laughter Comes Tears, was issued by Light in the Attic Records in 2012.

Wendy Rene died on December 16, 2014, after a stroke. She was 67.

Discography Singles with Volt Records 1964: "Wondering" / "Please Don't Leave" (with The Drapels) 1964: "Young Man" / "Your Love Is All I Need" (with The Drapels)

with Stax Records 1964: "After Laughter (Comes Tears)" / "What Will Tomorrow Bring" 1964: "Bar-B-Q" / "Young and Foolish" 1965: "Give You What I Got" / "Reap What You Sow"

Compilations 2003: You Thrill My Soul (Ace Records) 2012: After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Stax & Volt Singles + Rarities 1964–1965 (Light In The Attic Records)

Soundtracks "After Laughter" – Lucky Number Slevin "After Laughter" – Gegen die Wand (Head-On) "Bar-B-Q" – Once Upon a Time in the Midlands "After Laughter" – The Wackness "After Laughter" – Felix & Meira "After Laughter" – La dame dans l'auto avec des lunettes et un fusil "After Laughter" – This is England '88