At his last stop in Timmins Ontario, he found himself a nickel short of a 35-cent beer at the city's Maple Leaf Hotel. Tom told the bartender to put the cap back on the bottle and he'd head for the Sally Ann, but the bartender, Gaëtan Lepine, accepted the 30 cents and offered him a second beer if he would open his guitar case and play a few songs. These few songs turned into a 14-month run at the hotel, a weekly spot on CKGB in Timmins, eight 45-RPM recordings, and the end of the beginning for Tom Connors.
Connors was never part of the Canadian musical establishment like Gordon Lightfoot or Leonard Cohen. He wrote and 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.
Stompin' Tom smoked about 100 cigarettes per day and consumed an equivalent amount of beer. He died of kidney failure in 2013 and it seemed all Canada turned out for his funeral.
Not someone I knew of - thank you for expanding my horizons.
ReplyDeleteNot well known outside of Canada, so I am not surprised.
DeleteBoth he and his music were one of a kind! His classic hits grow on you and become a true expression of Canadiana!
ReplyDeleteThey truly are pieces of Canadiana. As Stompin' Tom wanted.
DeleteI watched all those videos with a mile-wide grin! Thanks for the blast from the past. :-)
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while I have to dig us some of his videos just to enjoy the mood it gives me. Would love to have known him.
DeleteI had to listen to them all over again. And from my previous post, Bud the Spud popped into my head the other day and I began hearing Stompin' Tom singing it in my mind, so I did this post
DeleteI loved LOVED seeing Stompin' Tom in the telly, never saw him live but I wish I had. That gravelly voice.... all those cigarettes! Love those songs and I can sing along with most of the words. We did a Hockey Song dance number when we were producing our annual local variety show, I think I probably did a blog post about him when he died. I'm a Stompin' Tom fan!
ReplyDeleteHurrah. Glad you loved hearing the old songs once more. I can sing along with most of them too.
DeleteNot surprisingly, I never heard of him down here in Australia. But my Mom in New England was a great fan of what she called Western music which had a similar vibe. She used to play mandolin and could yodel beautifully. Those songs brought back some fond memories of my mother and the music she loved; I'm sure she'd have loved Stompin' Tom, I bet.
ReplyDeleteIf your mom could play mandolin and yodel, she would definitely have been a Stompin Tom fan.
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