STOMPIN' TOM CONNORS (Canada)

MY STOMPIN' GROUNDS
-LP
1972 (Boot)




“Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you a man who is not only more Canadian than the maple leaf, and more devastating to a piece of plywood than a hungry beaver, but he’s even stomped down more streets in this country than a Peterborough Postman. Ladies and gentlemen, make way for the one and only STOMPIN’ TOM CONNORS.” - Bacon
Magazine


"Back in his ’60s-’70s heyday, Stompin’ Tom Connors would, indeed, stomp a hole clean through a piece of three-quarter-inch plywood in just one show." - JENNY FENIAK

"Tom is the coolest of the cool, more Canadian than a six-pack of Molson..." - MIKE ROSS


"There roams to this day across the Great White Northlands a man, a myth – dare I say, a LEGEND who has cast a long, black, yet somehow barely perceptible shadow over every guitar lasher who means a half hoot on either side of the dreaded U.S. /Canada border. A man who possesses a wicked tongue, beaver-sharp mind, commanding right leg and, above all, a wit and wisdom before which few others dare even stand, let alone deserve to approach.

That man, that myth, and/or that legend is named…
Stompin’ Tom Connors...

Prepare to have each and every one of your preconceived notions about All Things Twang simply dissolve forever before your very ears: NOBODY who falls under the spell of Tom ever comes out the other end quite the same way again." - Gary Pig Gold


"...with his guitar, he could conquer this space called Canada and speak to the average Canadian about the places he had seen and the people he had met...

This man is a true Canadian through and through. He chose a life that he wanted to live no matter what other people thought and did not compromise his principles. In fact, if you live outside of Canada you may not have heard of this Canadian legend." - Tanya Howie


"This generous, uncompromising artist is the composer of more than 300 songs. He has released in the neighborhood of four dozen albums, which have sold nearly four million copies. He has done it all without ever leaving Canada and thus is the total opposite of every other Canadian country artist of renown, all of whom went to great lengths to become established in the United States. An example would be the extensive string-pulling from Ernest Tubb to get the Canadian Hank Snow on the Grand Ole Opry. Connors has not only never toured outside of Canada, he also has never embraced the typical subject matter of popular American country songs and instead has stuck to singing about -- you guessed it -- all things Canadian, from a Saturday night in Sudbury to the joys of hockey. He did not begin his singing career until the mid-'60s, when he found himself on the road penniless...


Whereas in the '70s he was considered corny and square, he became a cultural icon among the new wave and punk crowd a decade or so later...

He has attained such notoriety without any of the expected career accomplishments such as a hit record. Not only has he never had a single record released in the United States, he has also yet to have his first hit country record even in Canada." - Eugene Chadbourne



"...he inexplicably has yet to place a solitary song on a Canadian country music chart ("They told me in 1964 that I didn't fit the format, they told me that in 1974, in 1984, they told me that again." Tom says. "I guess the format hasn't changed that much!" - Mike Dunlop


His grassroots popularity kept this legend alive when times were tough and no one seemed to care if he exited the Canadian music industry. After many years in the business, Stompin’ Tom is finally getting some of the recognition that he deserves.

His boots were made for walking; years of travel all over Canada have given this man a unique perspective on Canada and what it means to be a Canadian. He sings about his homeland with pride. In fact, he has never performed outside of Canada." - Tanya Howie


"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." - Wikipedia


"...after winning an unprecedented six consecutive "Canadian Grammys" as Male Country Singer of the year, Stompin' Tom defiantly returned all these Juno Awards in 1978 as a protest against "Border Jumpers": Canadian artists who no longer live and rarely perform in their home and native land." - Mike Dunlop


"I leave you with these words from Stompin’ Tom: “I have traveled my country from coast to coast and I have considered it from top to bottom. And not through rose-coloured glasses. I’ve seen our good points and I’ve seen some bad. We have our strengths and we have our weaknesses. But when all is said and done, we have been blessed with one great big and beautiful country of which we can all be proud.” - Tanya Howie



TRACKLIST:
01 My Stompin' Grounds
02 Song Of The Peddler
03 Name The Capital
04 Song Of The Cohoe
05 Snowmobile Song
06 'Wop' May
07 Tillsonburg
08 Cross Canada
09 Song Of The Irish Moss
10 Bonnie Belinda
11 The Bridge Came Tumblin' Down
12 Tribute To Wilf Carter


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