Cristy Lane

All Music Guide:

Cristy Lane is best remembered for her 1979 single "One Day at a Time," a gospel song that blended Protestant fervor with the language of self-help in a seamless, heartfelt whole. She is also noteworthy as one of the builders of the Branson, MO, live-entertainment phenomenon. Lane was born Eleanor Johnston to a family of 12 in Peoria, IL. Married before she was 20, she had three children by 1964. Her husband, Lee Stoller, a salesman, encouraged her to sing professionally, but she was painfully shy. After some tentative attempts, she landed several nightclub appearances and then a guest slot on Chicago's WLS Barn Dance radio program in 1968. She took her stage name from that of a Peoria DJ, Chris Lane.

Several early attempts to break into country music in Nashville came to nothing, and Lane struggled with the pressures of the performing career her husband was urging upon her. She attempted to commit suicide twice in the late '60s, once after a difficult 1969 tour of Vietnam, organized by Stoller during which Lane performed 120 shows and was involved in a helicopter crash that left her stranded in the midst of a battle. Lane and Stoller returned to Peoria and opened a pair of nightclubs that featured Lane as the marquee attraction.

In 1972, the Stoller family moved to a Nashville suburb and continued its attempts to get Lane's career off the ground. The reaction from established label executives ranged from indifference to sexual come-ons for Lane, and finally Stoller formed his own label, LS, in the mid-'70s. He was tireless in promoting Lane's career, and his efforts were rewarded when the label's debut single, "Tryin' to Forget About You," and its follow-up, "Sweet Deceiver," made the charts in 1977. That year she also made it to the Top Ten and the Top 20 with "Let Me Down Easy" and "Shake Me, I Rattle," respectively. Lane scored three more hits the following year and in 1979 was named New Vocalist of the Year by the Academy of Country Music. During the awards ceremony Lane sang "I Just Can't Stay Married to You," which later became a Top Five hit. In late 1979, Lane was signed to United Artists Records and had three more hits. But the label balked at releasing the song Lane and Stoller had planned for their next single, "One Day at a Time."

That song was a several-years-old entry from Kris Kristofferson's catalog of compositions; co-written with Nashville veteran Marijohn Wilkin, it was of a piece with other religious songs (such as "Why Me, Lord?") the hard-living Kristofferson had written in soberer moments. Shortly before Lane's version appeared, the song had topped British charts in a version by vocalist Lena Martell. For country radio in 1980, it was an unorthodox song, but Lane and Stoller correctly estimated its powerful impact. After it hit number one on the country charts, Lane released "Sweet Sexy Eyes," her final Top Ten hit. Her career hit the skids temporarily when Stoller was imprisoned on racketeering charges in 1982, but the couple bounced back after Stoller observed the spectacular success yodeler-crooner Slim Whitman had experienced after beginning direct television marketing of his music.

By 1986 Lane and Stoller had put together a strong pair of linked materials: a One Day at a Time album and a Lane autobiography of the same name. Marketed through television advertising and later on the World Wide Web, these items sold well for years and kept Lane's name before a demographic just waiting to be tapped: that of country fans in late middle age. As Branson began to emerge as a major entertainment destination in the late '80s and early '90s, Lane and Stoller jumped on the bandwagon. Their Cristy Lane Theatre became a major Branson attraction, hosting not only Lane's own performances but also early appearances by Branson stars-to-be such as Yakov Smirnoff (in 1992). Lane sold her Branson theater in the mid-'90s but remained active as a performer. She has recorded several albums of gospel and sentimental standards for marketing through her website and elsewhere. Plans were laid in the early 2000s for a film depicting Lane's life story.

Wikipedia:

Eleanor Johnston, known by her professional name as Cristy Lane (born January 8, 1940) is an American country music and gospel music singer, best known for a number of major country hits in the late 70s and the early 1980s, including her cover version of the song, "One Day at a Time".

Lane's career began to take shape in the mid-70s, after beginning to record for her husband's record label. Her first singles, "Trying to Forget About You" and "Sweet Deceiver", were released in 1977 followed by her first major hit, "Let Me Down Easy", by the end of the year. After having a series of Top 10 and 20 country hits, she signed with United Artists Records, and had her biggest hit with "One Day at a Time", a Gospel song, that peaked at #1 on the Country charts.

Early life

Cristy Lane was born Eleanor Johnston January 8, 1940 in Peoria, Illinois. She was one of twelve children, and was raised in an economically depressed section of East Peoria. Raised in near poverty, she developed a shy personality and often spoke with a lisp. Before she turned 20, Lane married Lee Stoller, a former U.S. Marine who was also raised in poverty. Within five years, the couple had three children. Because he enjoyed her singing, Stoller encouraged Lane to sing publicly. Able to shed her shyness, Lane began performing in night clubs and landed a spot on the WLS National Barn Dance in 1968. After Lane began to perform regularly, Stoller took charge of Lane's career, serving as her manager and publicist. Lane decided to take the stage name of "Cristy Lane", naming herself after her favorite disc jockey Chris Lane.

Music career

Early music career: 1966 – 1974

After taking up singing Lane recorded her first single, "Janie Took My Place", in Nashville, Tennessee on the K-Ark label. These early attempts for Lane to gain success failed, as radio failed to ignite her career and the pressures of the music business were beginning to stress her, as well as urging pressures from Stoller. After having no success, in 1969 Stoller tried to negotiate for Lane to appear with the United Service Organization, for a tour of Vietnam to perform for the troops, but the bid failed. However, Stoller was able to arrange for Lane to perform independently for a fee of $500 per-performance for 90 days. The dangers of performing in a war zone put Lane in jeopardy on more than one occasion. After suffering from exhaustion, she became physically and mentally ill. She had attempted suicide twice by 1970, and the tour left the couple financially distressed.

The couple moved back to East Peoria soon after and invested in two night clubs, which featured Lane as the main attraction. To further Lane's musical interests, they sold the night clubs and moved to Nashville in 1972. After gaining negative reactions from many major label record executives Stoller decided to form his own record label, LS Records. Lane began recording for the label in 1976, releasing her first pair of singles, "Midnight Blue" and "By the Way", neither of which were listed on any of the country music charts.

Breakthrough success: 1977 – 1986

After Stoller continuously promoted Lane's singles, the songs "Tryin' to Forget About You" and "Sweet Deceiver" charted in 1977. Her next single, titled "Let Me Down Easy", was chosen as the background music for a national news story on a balloon festival. Although the exposure was limited, it brought enough notoriety for the song to peak in the Top 10 on the Billboard Country Chart, reaching #7. Its follow-ups, "Shake Me I Rattle" and "Penny Arcade", were Top 20 and Top 10 hits respectively. That year, LS released her debut album, Cristy Lane Is the Name, which included all three of the hit singles. In 1979, Lane signed with United Artists Records and performed at the Academy of Country Music Awards, singing her most recent single, "I Just Can't Stay Married to You", and won the award for "Top New Female Vocalist" that same night. The national exposure from the performance hepled gain her an increase of radio airplay, and an increase in record sales, bringing the song to #5 on the Billboard Country Chart. She released her third studio album in 1979, Simple Little Words, after signing a contract with the major label, United Artists Records. Its title track reached the Top 10, and the album's two additional singles, "Come to My Love" and "Slippin' up, Slippin' Around", peaked in the Top 20 that year.

The next year, United Artists balked at releasing her next single, "One Day at a Time", written by Kris Kristofferson and Marijohn Wilkin, which was previously a country hit by Marilyn Sellars. Before Lane's release of the song, Lena Martell had a #1 hit in Great Britain with her version. Stoller predicted the song would have a successful impact on the charts, and decided that Lane's version would be released in early 1980. "One Day at a Time" became Lane's biggest hit, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Country Chart. The single's follow-up, "Sweet Sexy Eyes", made the country Top 10 the same year, becoming her final entry in the Top 10. She had a Top 20 hit in 1981 with a cover of ABBA's "I Have a Dream", followed by a Top 25 hit with "Love to Love You" from the same album. While serving 8 months of a 3 year prison sentence on bribery charges, Stoller collaborated with Pete Chaney to write Lane's biography. The book was published and self-promoted on television. The biography, also titled One Day at a Time, was sold in large amounts after being promoted. Stoller promoted more of Lane's music and material on television in the mid-80s, releasing new compilation albums along with the book, and her revenues greatly increased, as high as ten to one. Lane's material was soon promoted constantly on television and eventually sold on the world wide web in the 1990s, helping her record sales increase worldwide.

Later career: 1987 – present

In the late 1980s, Lane opened her own theater in Branson, Missouri, called "The Cristy Lane Theatre", which helped revive her career. In 1989, she also performed at the Hershey Park Amphitheatre in Pennsylvania, and also recorded a version of "Lean on Me" with Michael Jackson, Terri Gibbs, and Tom T. Hall for Willie Nelson's Farm Aid Benefit. Lane rented out her theater in Branson into the 1990s, continuing to also perform local concerts around the Branson area. However, in 1995, she was injured after falling from the top of the stage where she was performing, temporarily halting her music career. She then sold her theater, and later began performing again. In the early 90s, she released many compilation albums, including 20 Greatest Hits. Although it did not contain many of Lane's hits it did garner positive reviews. Throughout the 90s, she continued releasing more compilation albums, including releases such as Greatest Hits off the LS label, which did include many of Lane's biggest hits, as well as covers of other songs including Christian and Country music songs. The Greatest Hits album was given a positive review. In August 2003, she was honored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in San Antonio, Texas for her recognition to the military, and was inducted into their hall of fame.