Stompin' Tom Connors
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| Stompin' Tom Connors | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Charles Thomas Connors |
| Also known as | Tommy Messer |
| Born | February 9, 1936 Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Genre(s) | Folk, Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, Musician |
| Years active | 1967 – Present |
| Label(s) | Rebel Records (Canada), Dominion Records, Boot Records, Cynda Records, ACT Records, EMI |
| Website | www.stompintom.com |
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors OC (born February 9, 1936) is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known folk singers.
He currently lives in Ballinafad, a hamlet that makes up part of Erin, Ontario.
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[edit] Early life
He was born Charles Thomas Connors (known as Tommy Messer) in Saint John, New Brunswick to the teenaged Isabel Connors and her boyfriend Thomas Sullivan. Tom spent a short time living with his mother in a low-security women's penitentiary before he was seized by Children's Aid Society and later adopted by the Aylward family in Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island.
At the age of 15 he left his adoptive family to hitchhike across Canada, a journey that consumed the next 13 years of his life as he traveled between various part-time jobs while writing songs on his guitar. At his last stop in Timmins, Ontario, he worked in one of the local gold mines and was offered a year-long contract to sing on stage at the Maple Leaf Hotel, which earned him the attention of the local CKGB radio station.
[edit] Musical career
During the mid-1970s, Connors wrote and recorded "The Consumer", an ode to bill-paying that became the theme song for the popular Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) consumer affairs program, Marketplace. For the first few seasons, Connors appeared in the opening credits of the program, before "The Consumer" was replaced as the theme initially by an instrumental background version, and ultimately by another piece of music entirely.
Typically writing about Canadian lore and history, some of Connors' better-known songs have included "Bud the Spud", "Big Joe Mufferaw", "The Black Donnellys", "Reesor Crossing Tragedy", "Sudbury Saturday Night" and "The Hockey Song" (aka "The Good Old Hockey Game"); the last is frequently played over sound systems at National Hockey League (NHL) games.
The song that Tom wrote the fastest was Maritime Waltz; time, 12 minutes.[1]
[edit] Nickname
Connors' habit of stomping the heel of his left boot to keep rhythm earned him the nickname "that stompin' guy", or "Stomper". It wasn't until Canada's 100th birthday, July 1, 1967, that the name Stompin' Tom Connors was first used, when Boyd MacDonald, a waiter at the King George Tavern in Peterborough, Ontario introduced Tom on stage.[2] Based on an enthused audience reaction to it, Tom had it officially registered in Ontario as Stompin' Tom Ltd. the following week. Various stories have circulated about the origin of the foot stomping, but it's generally accepted that he did this to keep a strong tempo for his guitar playing - especially in the noisy bars and beer joints where he frequently performed. After numerous complaints about damaged stage floors, Tom began to carry a piece of plywood that he stomped even more vigorously than before. The "stompin' " board has since become one of his trademarks. After stomping a hole in the wood, he would pick it up and show it to the audience (accompanied by a joke about the quality of the local lumber) before calling for a new one. It was reported that when asked about his "stompin' board", Tom replied, "it's just a stage I'm going through". Stompin' Tom periodically auctions off his "stompin' boards" for charity with the latest board selling for over $14,000.00
[edit] Honours
He received an honorary Doctorate of Law from St. Thomas University in 1993, which was the inspiration for his album titled Dr. Stompin' Tom Connors, eh?, released the same year. In 1996 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and four years later was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Toronto.
In The Greatest Canadian list, he ranked #13, the highest placing for any artist on the list.
[edit] Retirement and nationalistic protest
As the 1970s progressed, he retired to his farm in Norval, near Georgetown, Ontario, to protest the lack of support given to Canadian stories by the policies of the Federal government, particularly the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). He also boycotted the Juno Awards in protest of the qualification guidelines set by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) for possible nominees who were being consistently nominated and awarded outside of their musical genre. He strongly opposed artists who conducted most of their business in the United States being nominated for Juno's in Canada. Connors, who referred to these particular artists as "turncoat Canadians", felt that in view of the fact that they had chosen to live and work in the U.S., it was only fair that they competed with Americans for Grammy Awards, and left the Juno competition to those who are lived and conducted business in Canada.
His protest caught national attention when he sent back his six Junos accompanied by a letter to the board of Directors.
"Gentlemen:I am returning herewith the six Juno awards that I once felt honored to have received and which, I am no longer proud to have in my possession. As far as I am concerned you can give them to the border jumpers who didn't receive an award this year and maybe you can have them presented by Charley Pride. 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. Until the academy appears to comply more closely with aspirations of this kind, I will no longer stand for any nominations, nor will I accept any award given. Yours very truly, Stompin' Tom Connors
He remained in retirement for 12 years before persistent love from young roots revivalists drew him back into the studio and on to the stage. To this day, Stompin' Tom's performances remain popular, and he remains one of Canada's more prolific recording artists. His songs often pay tribute to Canadian newsmakers or personalities, and can be topical, referring to news events of the day.
[edit] Autobiography
An autobiography detailing his childhood years in a female prison, in an orphanage, and as an indentured farm labourer became a bestseller in 1997. It details his life "Before the Fame", and in 2000 he did his second autobiography "The Connors Tone". Recent years have seen the re-release of 25 of his record albums.
[edit] Guest of honour on "Late Night"
Connors' music is rarely heard outside Canada, with the possible exception of his anthemic "The Hockey Song" which has been recorded by many artists. It has been suggested that Connors refuses to allow foreign release of his material, although a more likely reason is that the very Canadian-specific subject matter of many of his folk songs has resulted in limited demand in foreign markets. When Late Night with Conan O'Brien taped a week's worth of shows in Canada in 2004, Connors was one of the guests of honour, leading the Toronto audience in a rendition of "The Hockey Song"; this was one of the only times Connors had ever performed on American television. Another Canadian-taped installment of Late Night featured a segment in which Triumph the Insult Comic Dog visited Quebec; a parody of Connors' "Canada Day, Up Canada Way" is heard during the segment.
[edit] Favourite guitar
Tom's favourite guitar was a Gibson Southern Jumbo acoustic that he purchased in 1956 while on his way through Ohio to Nashville, Tennessee and Mexico. He discovered it in a furniture store, hidden in a case on the top of some shelf, and after some haggling, purchased it for $80 (all he had was $90 on him). The guitar was used to audition in 1964 at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, as well as for writing Bud the Spud four years later. Although retired in 1972, it remains in his possession.[3]
[edit] Dispute with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
After years of requests from CBC for Connors to do a Stompin' Tom music special he did just that. At a cost of over $200,000.00 of his own money, a live concert presentation at Hamilton Place was shot and edited on HD in September of 2005 and according to Connors' longtime promoter, Rocklands Entertainment CEO Brian Edwards, a copy was presented to the CBC's head of TV variety. He received a reply the next day telling him that a decision would be reached within a few weeks. After 10 weeks another email was then sent to the newly appointed programming VP, and a prompt reply came back saying that the broadcaster was moving away from music and variety programming and that the Connors special didn't fit with its strategy.
Edwards says he received another letter from the CBC that reinforced its lack of interest in the concert special, but saying that Connors would have been a great guest to perform a song on the network's Hockeyville series or an excellent subject for a Life and Times project.
"As far as I'm concerned, if the CBC, our own public network, will not reconsider their refusal to air a Stompin' Tom special, they can take their wonderful offer of letting me sing a song as a guest on some other program and shove it," said Connors.[4]
[edit] Discography
Connors has released music on no fewer than seven different labels. His earliest foray into recording was on the CKGB Timmins radio station label. These 45 RPM singles were pressed by Quality Records in Toronto, and distributed (and paid for) primarily by Tom. His first two albums (and two subsequent 45 RPM singles) were released on the Rebel Records bluegrass label, under the name "Tom Connors".
Most of Connors' well-known albums were released on Dominion Records, and on the Boot Records label that he co-founded with Jury Krytiuk and Mark Altman. His releases on Dominion (and all subsequent releases) were done under the name "Stompin' Tom Connors". Most of the Rebel and Dominion albums would be reissued (and in some cases, re-recorded) under the Boot label, and would represent the bulk of his recorded material. It was released on 33 1/3 RPM record albums, 45 RPM record singles, 8-tracks, and cassette tapes.
After his retreat from the music business in the late 70's, he started the ACT (Assisting Canadian Talent) label in 1986, and released two albums.
All of his subsequent releases (and rereleases) have been through Capitol Records / EMI. Most of this work is now available on Compact Disc. In recent years, many of his album releases have included at least one re-recording of one of his earlier songs.
[edit] Albums
A partial list of his recorded works includes:
- 1967 The Northlands' Own Tom Connors
- 1969 On Tragedy Trail
- 1970 Bud the Spud and Other Favourites
- 1970 Stompin' Tom Meets Big Joe Mufferaw
- 1970 Merry Christmas Everybody
- 1971 Live at the Horseshoe
- 1972 My Stompin' Grounds
- 1972 Love & Laughter
- 1973 Stompin' Tom and the Hockey Song
- 1973 To It and at It
- 1974 Across This Land with Stompin' Tom Connors [live]
- 1974 Stompin' Tom Meets Muk Tuk Annie
- 1975 The North Atlantic Squadron
- 1975 The Unpopular Stompin' Tom Connors
- 1976 Stompin' Tom at the Gumboot Cloggeroo
- 1985 Stompin' Tom Is Back to Assist Canadian Talent
- 1994 Fiddle and Song
- 1995 Stompin' Tom and the Moon Man Newfie
- 1995 Northlands Zone
- 1995 The Unpopular Stompin' Tom Connors
- 1996 More of the Stompin' Tom Phenomenon
- 1996 Once Upon a Stompin' Tom
- 1997 Believe in Your Country
- 1997 Long Gone to the Yukon
- 1997 The Confederation Bridge
- 2002 An Ode For The Road
- 2004 Stompin' Tom & The Hockey Mom Tribute
[edit] Compilations
- 1971 The Best of Stompin' Tom Connors
- 1972 Stompin' Tom Connors Sings 60 Old Time...
- 1973 Northlands Zone
- 1976 Stompin' Tom Sings 60 More Old Time Favorites
- 1978 Pistol Packin' Mama
- 1978 Bringing Them Back
- 1990 A Proud Canadian
- 1993 Dr. Stompin' Tom, Eh?
- 1993 K.I.C. Along with Stompin' Tom
- 1998 25 of the Best Stompin' Tom Souvenirs
- 2001 And the Moon Man/Unpopular
- 2001 Sings Canadian History
- 2006 Live Concert (DVD)
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Connors, Stompin' Tom (1995). Stompin' Tom - Before the Fame. Toronto: Viking Penguin, 490. ISBN 0-670-86487-0.
- ^ Connors, Stompin' Tom (1995). Stompin' Tom - Before the Fame. Toronto: Viking Penguin, 509. ISBN 0-670-86487-0.
- ^ Connors, Stompin' Tom (1995). Stompin' Tom - Before the Fame. Toronto: Viking Penguin, 356-379. ISBN 0-670-86487-0.
- ^ http://www.stompintom.com/whatsnew/snubbed_by_cbc.html "Stompin’ Tom Snubbed by CBC TV" (press release by Brian Edwards, Rocklands Entertainment Inc., Peterborough Ontario), 2006
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Giant mural design of Stompin' Tom Connors promoting his "A Proud Canadian" CD Release, 1990
