Stompin' Tom dies at 77

[radiofan]

Stompin’ Tom Connors dies at 77
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. — The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, Mar. 06 2013, 8:41 PM EST

Canadian country-folk legend Stompin’ Tom Connors, whose toe-tapping musical spirit and fierce patriotism established him as one of Canada’s strongest cultural icons, has died. He was 77.

Connors passed away Wednesday from what a spokesman described as “natural causes.”

Brian Edwards said the musician, rarely seen without his signature black cowboy hat and stomping cowboy boots, knew his health was declining and had penned a message for his fans a few days before his death.

In the message posted on his website, Connors says Canada kept him “inspired with it’s beauty, character, and spirit, driving me to keep marching on and devoted to sing about its people and places that make Canada the greatest country in the world.”

Connors is survived by his wife Lena, two sons, two daughters and several grandchildren.

Dubbed Stompin’ Tom for his propensity to pound the floor with his left foot during performances, Connors garnered a devoted following through straight-ahead country-folk tunes that drew inspiration from his extensive travels and focused on the everyman.

Although wide commercial appeal escaped Connors for much of his four-decade career, his heritage-soaked songs like “Canada Day, Up Canada Way,” “The Hockey Song,” “Bud the Spud,” and “Sudbury Saturday Night,” have come to be regarded as veritable national anthems thanks to their unabashed embrace of all things Canadiana.

Still, Connors often complained that not enough songs were being written about his homeland.

“I don’t know why I seem to be the only one, or almost the only one, writing about this country,” Connors said in a rare one-on-one interview at his home in Halton Hills, Ont., in 2008.

“It just amazes me that I’ve been going so long I would think that somebody else (would have) picked up the torch a long time ago and started writing tons of songs about this country. This country is the most underwritten country in the world as far as songs are concerned. We starve, the people in this country are starving for songs about their homeland.”

Connor’s fervent patriotism brought controversy when his principles put him at loggerheads with the Canadian music industry.

In 1978, he famously returned a handful of Juno Awards he had amassed in previous years, complaining that some artists were being awarded in categories outside their genre while other winners had conducted most of their work outside of the country. He derided artists that moved to the United States as “border jumpers.”

“I feel that the Junos should be for people who are living in Canada, whose main base of business operations is in Canada, who are working toward the recognition of Canadian talent in this country and who are trying to further the export of such talent from this country to the world with a view to proudly showing off what this country can contribute to the world market,” he said in a statement at the time.

The declaration marked the beginning of a 10-year self-imposed exile from the spotlight.

From Connors’ earliest days, life was a battle.

He was born in Saint John, N.B., on Feb. 9, 1936 to an unwed teenage mother. According to his autobiography, “Before the Fame,” he often lived hand-to-mouth as a youngster, hitchhiking with his mother from the age of three, begging on the street by the age of four. At age eight, he was placed in the care of Children’s Aid and adopted a year later by a family in Skinner’s Pond, P.E.I. He ran away four years later to hitchhike across the country.

Connors bought his first guitar at age 14 and picked up odd jobs as he wandered from town to town, at times working on fishing boats, as a grave digger, tobacco picker and fry cook.

Legend has it that Connors began his musical career when he found himself a nickel short of a beer at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ont., in 1964 at age 28.

The bartender agreed to give him a drink if he would play a few songs but that turned into a 14-month contract to play at the hotel. Three years later, Connors made his first album and garnered his first hit in 1970 with “Bud The Spud.”

Hundreds more songs followed, many based on actual events, people, and towns he had visited.

“I’m a man of the land, I go out into the country and I talk to people and I know the jobs they do and how they feel about their jobs,” Connors has said.

“And I’ve been doing that all my life so I know Canada like the palm of my hand. I don’t need a map to go anywhere in Canada, I know it all.”

In 1988, Connors emerged from his decade-long protest with the album “Fiddle and Song,” featuring a new fiddle style and the songs “Canada Day, Up Canada Way,” “Lady kd lang,” and “I Am the Wind.” It was followed in 1990 by a 70-city Canadian tour that established him as one of the country’s best loved troubadours.

But his strong convictions about the music industry remained. Connors declined induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993.

Accolades he did embrace included an appointment to the Order of Canada in 1996, and his own postage stamp.

“Whatever I do, in my writing, I do it for others,” Connors said in the 2008 interview. “I do it for my country and I do it for my countrymen and that’s the only value that I really have. If there was no money in this, I’d be doing it anyway. I’ve always been that way. Because it’s what I am.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/mus ... le9400045/

[Eldon-Mr.CFAY]

Greetings,
Stompin Tom certainly was a great Canadian and a great entertainer. His brand of country and country-novelty songs over the years was great! I certainly like his attitude and music. Good article Jon, thanks for that. He will be greatly missed! I noticed CHEX TV Peterborough did a Tribute to him on their Evening News on Thursday night, March 7th. Also there will be a memorial service at Peterborough at one of the main civic centers there next week, on Tuesday I believe. It will be quite a celebration to him. Stompin Tom was not born in Peterborough but in many ways this is considered his home town since he performed here so much over the years from the beginning.

So wherever you are Stompin Tom in the multiverse or beyond many thanks for the great music over the years and your grassroots Canadian attitude!

73s, All the Best, Eldon and Ann

[Eldon-Mr.CFAY]

Greetings,
Sorry RadioFan I must thank you very much for posting the article about Stompin Tom. I stated in the previous posting it was Jon. Really enjoyed reading the article. Thanks again for bringing this article to everyones attention RadioFan!!! I have quite a few of his vinyl 45s in my collection and several cassettes and CDs.... Would like to add more as well. I was talking to Pirate Joe at WHVW 950 Hyde Park, last night and he was telling me that he was going to mention it to Sunday program host Darwin Lee of the WHVW Hillbilly Show heard in the afternoon about it. When Pirate Joe does his weekday live show from 3 PM to 6 PM he plays mainly old 78 rpms live on the air from the late 20s to early 60s!!! His knowledge is amazing of the label, artists of vintage country, blues, rock etc... However he was not familiar with Stompin Tom's music as I don't think it was sold or promoted much in the USA. He did tell me he was going to check into it and apparently Darwin Lee is very familiar with all types of country music and has an extensive record collection too. So hopefully he will be doing something about Stompin Tom on his Sunday Show. By the way J.P. does play old Canadian Artists like Hank Snow and Wilf Carter on his live program right from the 78 rpm recordings. So he does like Canadian musicians too. He asked me if Stompin Tom had ever recorded any 78 rpm records. I said I did not know but did not think so. He said if he did he would love to obtain them!!!!

Take care everyone, safety first. 73s Eldon

[skyvalleyradio]

I had the pleasure of meeting the man while working at CJDC radio/TV in 72-73. Stompin' Tom did 2 sold-out shows at Dawson Creek's Sanscha Hall and a few of us DJs got to MC the show. I met people from as far away as Mackenzie & Ft Nelson who drove all the way to DC for one of the shows. The crowd almost took the floor out of the hall both shows - stomping their feet HARD in unison demanding an encore, until the building shook! A Canadian treasure...we'll miss you Stompin' Tom