PLAIN FOLK

by Billy Jones
A Short History of a Canadian Champion: Tom Connors

When the Folk Music Club was in its infancy, Les Pearson and I had a discussion about country and western music. Les knew that my personal knowledge of some of the artists went back a long way so. I answered his questions based on my experience over the years.

Our conversation turned to Canadian folk singers and we began tossing names back and forth when suddenly, I thought of Stompin' Tom Connors. He has to be the champion, all-round, Canadian folk singer/songwriter I know. Good heavens, I was the front man for his show for two and a half years and hadn't given it a thought. It is my opinion that Tom knows this country and its people better than anyone.

In his early days, Tom and his traveling companion, Steve Foote (Stevedore Steve of Lester the Lobster fame), either walked the rails or rode in empty boxcars from coast to coast. They were cold, hungry, and slept wherever they could find an empty barn or an old car. Steve would pass the hat while Tom played and sang on street corners for a few dollars. All this time he was writing about the places they'd been and he was putting these stories to music.

After spending some time in Toronto, Tom Connors' itchy feet took him north to the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ontario, where he was hired for thirty-five dollars a week and room and board. In Peterborough, Ontario, a year and a half later, he was dubbed "Stompin' Tom" by a friendly waiter. It was there that he also began to use a plywood board under his feet after tearing up the carpeted stage.

Tom gained popularity with songs like "Sudbury Saturday Night," "Bud the Spud," and "The Hockey Song". The TV show "Marketplace" used his song called "The Consumer" for many years. He became the working men's hero because he was writing and singing hundreds of songs about them.

Tom's albums were profitable and he hired a manager. His assets eventually included two publishing companies and two record labels including Boot Records. He often signed and donated the quarter inch plywood boards he used to organizations that would raffle them off for charity. By 1977, Tom had accumulated Twenty-seven albums--six of them gold--and seven Juno awards. For six years running, he was Canada's number one country vocal artist. He had also become a Canadian historian quite capable of meeting any politician on the level.

During a severe storm off the coast of Newfoundland, I watched Tom calmly engrossed in a book on philosophy while our boat tossed erratically. It was then I learned that his collection of literature consisted mainly of history, geography and psychology.

Stompin' Tom Connors' knowledge and concerns for this country are quite real and his predictions have usually come to pass. He has written two rather thick books. This self-educated boy from Skinners Pond P.E.I. has become an amazing man. He will appear at the Calgary Folk Festival this summer.