Stompin' Tom Connors dies at 77

You don't get much more Canadian than Stompin' Tom Connors. I remember singing those classic songs of his as a kid while driving through the country in our family's Volkswagen Beetle. Many of his homespun tunes like 'Budd The Spud'. 'Margo's Cargo' and 'The Hockey Song' are on the lips of Canadians today who remember the man in his prime. Unfortunately not enough true 'Canadiana' is celebrated these days and Stompin' Tom was a gentleman of the old school. Corny to some but iconic to others like me. There is a space waiting for him and his board up there in Country Heaven.



Dubbed Stompin' Tom for his propensity to pound the floor with his left foot during performances, Connors garnered a devoted following through straight-ahead country-folk tunes that drew inspiration from his extensive travels and focused on the everyman.

Although wide commercial appeal escaped Connors for much of his four-decade career, his heritage-soaked songs like Canada Day, Up Canada Way, The Hockey Song, Bud the Spud, and Sudbury Saturday Night, have come to be regarded as veritable national anthems thanks to their unabashed embrace of all things Canadiana.

Tom was 72 was he did what was one of his last performances at the 2008 Hockey Hall of Fame ceremony.



His songs were simple, funny, memorable and repeatable. Try not to know all the words to Margo's Cargo after only hearing it ONCE. That was the beauty of a good ol' Stompin' Tom Song.