One Day At A Time

[8], 288, [1] pages. Illustrations. Illustrated front and back covers. No dust jacket present. Cover wear and page discoloration and soiling noted. Inscribed by Christy Lane inside the front cover. In 1969, Lane and her husband traveled to Vietnam to perform for the troops stationed there for the war. The engagement was planned in a span of two weeks and was nearly canceled due to the hired band backing out last minute. The 120-concert tour took Lane to the front lines of combat At times, Lane performed despite hearing bombs and fighter jets less than a mile away. During other performances, Lane had to shelter in place to avoid being killed. In a car headed to Saigon, Lane witnessed the soldier sitting beside her get shot and killed. "Bullets were ripping through his body, their impact jerking him back. He slumped over the gun he had been strapped to. He was dead," Lane's biography book recalled in 1983. Because several shows had to be canceled, the Stollers lost an estimated twelve thousand dollars during their trip. Following her return to the United States, Lane recorded her first album titled Cristy Lane Salutes G.I.'s of Viet Nam. The project was released in 1969 and was dedicated to the soldiers fighting overseas. In 1977, Lane recorded her single release titled "Let Me Down Easy". The song was produced by Charlie Black, a Nashville songwriter, who was an independent producer. For the song's promotion, LS Records made an arrangement for the GRT label to distribute "Let Me Down Easy" became Lane's first major country hit, climbing to number 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Cristy Lane (born Eleanor Johnston; January 8, 1940) is an American Christian and country music singer. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had a series of hits on the North American country charts with songs like "Let Me Down Easy", "I Just Can't Stay Married to You" and the number one hit "One Day at a Time". The latter recording inspired a book of the same name, which was sold on cable television and brought renewed interest to Lane's career. Lane was raised in Peoria, Illinois, and married Lee Stoller at age 19. She raised three children while Stoller worked a sales job in the Peoria area. One day, Stoller overheard his wife singing at home and got the idea that she could become a successful country music vocalist. Stoller soon became her full-time manager and by 1966 she released her first single on a small independent record label. Lane recorded for a series of small labels during the decade with no success. In 1969, Lane and Stoller traveled the far east where she performed over 100 shows for American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. Traumatized by the experience, Lane considered ending her career but ultimately decided to continue. The family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in the early 1970s to restart Lane's country singing career. Facing rejection from every major record company, Stoller decided to form his own label, which he named LS Records. The company began releasing Cristy Lane singles in the mid 1970s. In 1977, she had her first major hit with "Let Me Down Easy". It was followed by a series of top ten hits over the next several years. In 1979, Lane signed with United Artists Records, where she would record "One Day at a Time". The single would become her biggest hit in her career and prompted Lane to record a series of albums tailored to the Christian market in the 1980s. This included LPs such as One Day at a Time (1981) and Footprints in the Sand (1983). In 1982, Stoller went to prison on federal bribery charges. The criminal conviction halted Lane's career, but when he was released, he published her biography also titled One Day at a Time (1983). Marketing the book on cable television in combination with her record albums, One Day at a Time sold many copies. Over the next several decades, Lane's biography and recordings were sold over television commercials, the worldwide web and through other major distributors.…