In his early career, most “critics’ dismissed him, a mere average guitar strummer, corny songs, lousy voice.
But, the man was loved by the blue collar workers of this country and came to be a Canadian icon.
On this day Feb 9, 1936, Charles Thomas Connors was born in Saint John. It was a tough life with his struggling teenage mother and a series of run down apartments.
Eventually after a short time spent living with his mother actually in a low-security penitentiary, he was taken by Children’s Aid, and later adopted by a couple in Skinner’s Pond, Prince Edward Island, which he considered ever after as his home.
Still, at age 15 he left Skinner’s Pond and began hitchhiking across the country taking a series of low-paying labour jobs, often “riding the rails” in boxcars.
He would sometimes welcome being arrested for vagrancy so he could get a warm bed for the night.
During his wanderings he picked up a guitar in 1956 and began writing songs; simple songs that the blue collar working crowd could easily identify with.
The low point, turns his life around.
The turning point in his life came at the Maple Leaf Hotel tavern in the northern Ontario town of Timmins.
In what has become a legendary tale, he ordered a beer, but found he was a nickel short. The waiter said he could have the beer if he played a couple of songs.
The group in the bar, thought he was OK, and the bar invited him back, with pay. That turned into a 14 month run. During that time, he got a weekly spot on the local radio, and his career took off.
Records followed, which become big sellers with several hit singles in the country charts.
He also got his nickname “Stompin’ Tom” for his habit a pounding his cowboy boot heel into the floor to keep time in noisy bars. In fact, it was a tavern owner in Peterborough Ontario that first used it to introduce the singer. The crowd liked it, and he kept it. Venues would later complain about the damage his cowboy boot would do to their stage. To mollify them he would later bring a small square of plywood with him to stand on, and stomp on, to prevent stage damage.
Critics eventually, and somewhat reluctantly had to admit that this unsophisticated lanky guy with the black cowboy hat, with the unimpressive singing voice, and simple and simplistic lyrics and melodies, was nonetheless one of the best known names in Canadian entertainment.
A passionate patriot for Canada
Some of his songs were fervently patriotic, such as one about Canada’s peacekeepers, “The Blue Berets”, and another which said directly that if you don’t believe in Canada, then get out called, “Believe in your Country”. Others were about identifiable Canadian place and things such as :Sudbury Saturday Night” and “Algoma 69” about the Algoma railway in Ontario.
Still others were about historic Canadian events and people. The “Wop May” song about a pioneering bush pilot, “Fire in the Mine” about a tragedy in Timmins at the Hollinger Mine resulting in 39 deaths,”Tilsonburg” about the hard job of picking tobacco .
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He also at one point staged a protest that the Canadian music awards were being given too often to Canadian artists who made their careers not in Canada, but in the US. He returned his Juno music awards writing. “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.”
The National Post newspaper wrote about him saying, “He sang of a nation without politics, to its proud history, and to its better angels. His songs remind us that Canada matters — that we’ve built something amazing here, and must not take it for granted”
Canadians also appreciated that there was no guise or pretence to Stompin’ Tom, what you saw was what you got, and while a concert hall was the proper venue for many Canadian singer-songwriters, the proper venue for Stompin’ Tom was a smoky barroom, where he almost always would sit and chat with fans during breaks or after the show.
After dozens of recordings, and creation of records labels, and national TV shows, Stompin Tom had literally become an iconic Canadian country and folk singer, recognized by just about everyone in Canada.
Tom Connors died on March 6, 2013 at his farm home near Erin Ontario, west of Toronto. He had written a letter to be published after his death.
Hello friends,
I want all my fans, past, present, or future, to know that without you, there would have not been any Stompin’ Tom.
It was a long hard bumpy road, but this great country kept me inspired with its 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.
I must now pass the torch, to all of you, to help keep the Maple Leaf flying high, and be the Patriot Canada needs now and in the future.
I humbly thank you all, one last time, for allowing me in your homes, I hope I continue to bring a little bit of cheer into your lives from the work I have done.
Sincerely, Your Friend always, Stompin’ Tom Connors
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