Cristy Lane

Cristy Lane

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 signature song, "One Day at a Time."

After marrying her husband, Lee Stoller (a business man and entrepreneur), he began to take control of Lane's entire career, serving as her manager and publicist. The couple promoted Lane's work through television and internet, bringing Lane's worldwide record sales to multi-platinum levels. 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 Peoria. Because of being 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 US Marine soldier, who was currently a kitchenware salesman. Much like his wife, Stoller was also raised in poverty. Within five years, the couple had three children. Upon hearing her singing voice, Stoller encouraged her to sing, however, Lane was painfully shy. After making several attempts, Lane began performing in night clubs, and landed a spot on the WLS National Barndance in 1968. After beginning to perform on a regular basis, Stoller completley took charge of Lane's career, serving as her manager and publicist. During this time, Lane decided to take the stage name of "Cristy Lane," which she named 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 in more than one occasion, the worst encounter came when the helicopter Lane was riding in, crashed in the center of a combat zone. After suffering from serious injuries and exhaustion, she became physically and mentally ill. She attempted to commit suicide twice by 1970, and the tour left the couple financially distressed. The couple moved back to 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," which did not chart on any of the country 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 it gained small exposure, 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 also performed at the Academy of Country Music Awards, eventually winning the award for "Top New Female Vocalist" that night. She also performed at the awards, singing her most recent single up to that point titled, "I Just Can't Stay Married to You." As before, the national exposure from the performance hepled her gain an increase number 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 it 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 ABBA's "I Have a Dream," followed by a Top 25 hit with "Love to Love You" from the same album. Her husband was partially to blame for Lane's career decline in the next three years, due to Stoller being arrested on bribery charges, and sentenced to three years in a minimum security prison. Instead, the decision was later made that he would only serve eight months. He took the time in prison to collaborate with Pete Chaney to write Lane's biography. The book was published and self-promoted on television. The biography 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, also on television 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. This helped her record sales increase throughout the world.

Later career: 1987 – present

In the late 1980s, Lane opened her own theatre in Branson, Missouri entitled, "The Cristy Lane Theatre," which helped revive her career. In 1989, she also performed at the Hershey Park Ampitheatre in Pennsylvania, and also recorded a version of "Lean on Me" with artists, Michael Jackson, Terri Gibbs, and Tom T. Hall for Willie Nelson's Farm Aid Benefit. Lane rented out her theatre in Branson into the 1990s, continuing to also perform local concerts around the Branson areas. 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 theatre, and later began performing again. In the early 90s, she released many compiltion albums, including 20 Greatest Hits. Although it didn't contain most of Lane's hits, it did garner positive reviews. Throughout the 90s, she continued releasing more compiltion albums, including releases such as Greatest Hits off the LS label, which included many of Lane's biggest hits, and covers of other songs, including Christian and Country music songs. The Greatest Hits album was given a positve review. In August 2003, she was honored by the Veterans of Foreign War in San Antonio, Texas for her recognition to the military, and was inducted into their hall of fame.

Discography

Main article: Cristy Lane discography

External links

• Cristy Lane's Official Website