The fabulous Stompin' Tom Connors has died. I had the privilege of catching one of his shows in some dive bar in Toronto in the early '70s and what a show he put on. People absolutely loved him because he was so "Canadian".
There he stood on a rickety stage in a smoky tavern, his band behind him and the ever-present block of wood he stomped on through every song. That block of wood was a great gimmick because you couldn't help but get into the song -- any song -- when he started clomping away with his cowboy boot on that plank. His songs were as corny as they were catchy. Who doesn't love 'Sudbury Saturday Night' in which..."the girls are out to bingo, the boys are gettin' stinko and we'll think no more of Inco on a Sudbury saturday night"? And what about 'Bud the Spud'.......and 'The Hockey Song'.......classics.
He always sported a slightly grimy cowboy hat and checked shirt of some kind and after he'd finish he'd join anyone and everyone at a table to hoist a few before the next set. He even sat with us for a bit. What a gentleman. So polite and self-effacing. Utterly charming.
Once I spotted him driving up Avenue Road in his signature battered pickup, with some sort of hand-made cab on it, his name blazoned on the side. You couldn't miss him. His death has made national headlines and tributes are flowing in to a truly great Canadian patriot.
The small-town boy from Skinner's Pond P.E.I. will be missed.
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