Connors, Stompin' Tom

"Stompin' Tom" (Charles Thomas) Connors. Singer-songwriter, guitarist, fiddler, b Saint John, NB, 9 Feb 1936; honorary LLD (St Thomas) 1993, honorary LLD (Toronto) 2000. At 11 Stompin' Tom Connors wrote his first song, 'Reversing Falls Darling,' and at 15 he began playing the guitar. The influences of Wilf Carter and Hank Snow date from this period. Music remained an avocation as Connors worked for 10 years at various jobs across Canada, often in the company of Steve Foote (later 'Stevedore Steve,' the Boot Records recording artist). Connors began singing professionally in 1964 at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ont. He remained there for 14 months and was also heard locally on CKGB radio. In the absence of amplification at the Maple Leaf and the other hotel lounges where he performed in Ontario, Connors pounded the floor with his booted foot to establish the rhythm of his songs (partly sung and partly recited) above the noise of the crowd, thereby earning the name 'Stompin' Tom.'

Keywords

Country Singers

Fiddlers

Guitarists/Banjo Players

Songwriters

Nationalist Songwriter

Connors recorded his first single, 'Carolyne,' in 1965 and distributed this and other early recordings (for the Rebel label) while touring in northern Ontario. In 1969 he moved to Toronto and began recording for Dominion. His first single, 'Bud the Spud,' was popular in 1970; it was followed through 1976 by the national hits 'Big Joe Mufferaw,' 'Ketchup Song,' and 'Luke's Guitar' for Dominion, and 'The Bridge Came Tumbling Down,' 'Moon-Man Newfie,' and 'The Bug Song,' for the Boot label that he established in 1971 with his manager, Jury Krytiuk. Other songs associated with Connors include 'Sudbury Saturday Night' and 'To It and At It.' A prolific and intensely nationalistic writer, he had completed more than 500 songs by 1978, many based on actual events and people, and others (eg, 'Tillsonburg') in honour of the locales in which he had performed. The words and music to 125 Connors songs were published in Stompin' Tom: Story & Song (Mississauga, Ont, 1975), which also included a biography by Stevedore Steve.

Connors was the subject of two films, This Is Stompin' Tom (Marlin 1972) and the feature Across This Land with Stompin' Tom (Cinepix 1973), starred 1974-5 on CBC-TV's Stompin' Tom's Canada, and enjoyed country-wide popularity in club and concert appearances, including a tour with Wilf Carter and Hank Snow. Boot Records released 29 Connors LPs during the 1970s, including the two five-volume sets, Stompin' Tom Sings 60 Old Time Favourites (STC 1) and Stompin' Tom Sings 60 More Old Time Favourites (STC 2). Several sold more than 50,000 copies, eg, Bud the Spud (1969, Dom LPS-21002/Boot BOS-7114), Stompin' Tom Connors Meets Big Joe Mufferaw (1970, Dom LPS-21007/Boot BOS-7123), My Stompin' Grounds (1971, Boot BOS-7103), and Live at the Horseshoe (1971, Dom LPS-21016/Boot BOS-7128).

1978 Boycott; 1988 Comeback

Connors won the Juno Award annually 1970-5 as male country singer, and his LP To It and At It (Boot BOS-7127) received a Juno as the country album of 1973. In 1978, however, he returned the awards in protest of Junos given to expatriate Canadians. He subsequently launched a personal, one-year boycott of radio and other media in protest of their lack of support for identifiably Canadian material. In fact Connors did not return to performance until 1988, when he recorded Fiddle and Song (Cap C-92921). The album, which introduced the fiddle style that he developed in the interim, included the popular 'Canada Day, Up Canada Way,' 'Lady kd lang,' and 'I Am the Wind.' It was followed in 1990 by a triumphant 70-city tour of Canada, culminating in December with two concerts at Massey Hall. By then an anthology of his hits, A Proud Canadian (Cap C-80010), had sold more than 50,000 copies. Capitol also reissued (on CD, LP, and cassette) many of Connors's earlier albums and in 1991 released a new recording, More of the Stompin' Tom Phenomenon (C-95897).

Successful 1990s

Although Connors's songs had been virtually ignored by commercial radio (his successes came mainly on country and university radio stations and through record sales), he began to achieve an unexpected degree of commercial success during this period. In 1992, his 'The Hockey Song' was played during an Ottawa Senators hockey game, and quickly became an anthem for National Hockey League games. He made several Canadian tours. His albums during this period included Believe in Your Country (1992, Capitol C2 99599); Dr. Stompin' Tom...Eh? (1993, EMI 27225); Long Gone to the Yukon (EMI 7243 835298 2 7); Move Along with Stompin' Tom (1999, EMI 7243 522937 2 8; and An Ode for the Road (2002, EMI 72435 39961 2 3). Several songs recorded significant Canadian events: 'Confederation Bridge' (the building of the PEI-mainland link); 'The Blue Berets' (UN peacekeeper assignments); and 'Believe in Your Country' (Canada's 125th anniversary).

Honours and Assessment

Connors was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993 (although he declined this honour), and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996. He was a recipient of a SOCAN National Achievement Award in 1999, as well as the Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 2000. The East Coast Music Awards honoured him often, and also presented awards named for him. His two-volume autobiography was a best-seller.

Connors' nationalist stance brought him broader support especially after the late 1980s, when Canadian cultural values were perceived to be under a growing threat from the US. The identifiably Canadian content of Connors's songs helped forge a nationalist song style while retaining traditional elements. Writing in the Canadian Folk Music Journal in 1994, William Echard pointed out that Connors was 'a major force in challenging the assumption that Canadian themes are less worthy than American or blandly "universal" ones' (volume 22, 1994).

Writings

Bud the Spud (Charlottetown 1994)

Hockey Night Tonight: The Hockey Song (Charlottetown 1995)

Stompin' Tom: Before the Fame (Toronto 1995)

The Legend Continues: Stompin' Tom and the Connors Tone (Toronto 2000)

Bibliography

Clausen, Oliver. "Yoo-hoo-hoo! It's Stompin' Tom," Globe Magazine, 31 Jan 1970

Brown, Dick. "Tom started stompin' when he was 5 cents short of a beer," Canadian Magazine, 25 Mar 1972

Nowlan, Alden. "What's more Canadian than Stompin' Tom?", Maclean's, Aug 1972

Flohil, Richard. "Stompin' Tom: Canada's unlikely national symbol," Canadian Composer, 85, Nov. 1973

McGuirk, Henry. "Stompin' Tom Connors," CMN, vol 9, Jan. Feb 1989

Farrington, John. "Stompin' Tom wants all Canadians to be proud of Canada," Sudbury Star, 4 May 1990

Jennings, Nicholas. "A rebel's return," Maclean's, 14 May 1990

Potter, Mitch. "Stompin' Tom," Toronto Star, 27 May 1990