Smooth-voiced singer Cristy Lane (nee Eleanor Johnston) came pretty late to the countrypolitan party, having worked on the periphery of the country mainstream for the better part of a decade before she cracked into the lower rungs of the charts in 1977... She had an appealing style, though, and became a major chart-topper of the early '80s, before dropping out of the country scene in favor of recording Christian music. Here's a quick look at her work...
Cristy Lane "Greatest Country Hits" (Collector's Choice, 2005)
Fans will be thrilled by this generously-programmed collection with her main chart hits from the late-'70s and early-'80s... It starts off with her first entry, "Tryin' To Forget About You," a song with a simple, Loretta Lynn-like sound that showed the promise Lane held out to fans of plain old, rootsy country-pop. Like so many country singers before her (and after), however, she got bit by the Pop bug, and poured on the strings and prefab arrangements... Eventually, buoyed by the success of inspirational hits such as "One Day At A Time" (her lone #1 hit) and "Footprints In The Sand" (her last chart big entry, back in '83), Christy Lane went born-again and recorded religious albums for numerous small labels. She dropped off Nashville's radar, with her country hits falling out of print for over a decade before this best-of came along. That's just one reason listeners should be happy to see this set come out: Lane's demure, down-to-earth sincerity is another -- even when the songs were kind of iffy, she still had a pretty appealing vocal presence. Worth checking out, particularly if you're curious about what happened with the latter-day countrypolitan sound.
Cristy Lane "Twenty Greatest Hits" (TeeVee Records, 1996)
Cristy Lane "Salutes GI's Of Viet Nam" (Lane Records, 1969)
(Produced by Tommy Allsup & Lee Stoller)
Although Cristy Lane started performing and recording singles several years earlier, her first full album came in 1969 as a result of a USO-style tour of Vietnam, taken at the height of the war. While the shows were apparently successful, Lane was so shaken by her experiences on the front lines that back home she had a bout with PTSD and almost gave up her performing career. Her husband was still selling the successes of the Vietnam tour a few years later, using the same glowing language used here on the liner notes of her next record, below. This album sports plenty of photos entertaining the troops, but seems to have been recorded in Nashville after she got back -- sadly, no info about the musicians backing her, but I'd guess it was a bunch of Music City regulars if Tommy Allsup was involved. The set is packed with late 'Sixties standards, stuff like "Cotton Fields" and "Love Of The Common People," as well as gal-centric numbers such as "Harper Valley PTA," "I Fall To Pieces" and "Stand By Your Man."
Cristy Lane & The Misty Men "Presenting The Fabulous Christy Land Show!" (Extremely Brave Records, 1972-?)
(Produced by Don Chapman, Lee Stoller & Rich Tufo)
A memento of Christy Lane's early years as a regional performer based in Illinois... The liner notes mention her having recently worked USO tours in Vietnam, though in fact that took place a couple of years earlier. It's fascinating to see such a bar band-level release by an artist most associated with the glossy, pop-flavored country sounds of the disco era, but it looks like the Misty Men was a real working band in Peoria, made up of Christy Lane, bass player and band leader Quentin Good Jr., Ken Hirth (drums), Fred Newell (guitar) and Mike Shannon on saxophone. The most notable member is clearly picker Fred Newell, another Illinois native who soon moved to Nashville and became a fabled Nashville session player, and a member the house band on TNN's Nashville Now TV show.
Cristy Lane "Cristy Lane Is The Name" (LS Records, 1978)
Cristy Lane "Love Lies" (LS Records, 1979)
Cristy Lane "Simple Little Words" (United Artists Records, 1979)
Cristy Lane "Ask Me To Dance" (Liberty Records, 1980)
Cristy Lane "One Day At A Time" (LS Records, 1981)
Cristy Lane "I Have A Dream" (Liberty Records, 1981)
Cristy Lane "Fragile-Handle With Care" (Liberty Records, 1981)
Cristy Lane "Here's To Us" (Liberty Records, 1982)
Cristy Lane "Amazing Grace" (Liberty Records, 1982)
Cristy Lane "Footprints In The Sand" (Liberty Records, 1983)
Cristy Lane "Christmas With Cristy" (Liberty Records, 1983)
Cristy Lane "Harbor Lights" (LS Records, 1985)
Cristy Lane "Cristy Lane Salutes The GIs Of Vietnam" (LS Records, 1986)
Cristy Lane "Cristy Lane At Her Best" (Liberty Records, 1986)
Cristy Lane "Under His Wings" (Arrival Records, 1986)
