Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors,
OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...
and
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited with writing more than 300 songs and has released four dozen albums, with total sales of nearly four million copies.
Connors' songs have become part of the Canadian cultural landscape. Among his best-known songs are "
Sudbury Saturday Night "Sudbury Saturday Night" is one of the most famous songs by Stompin' Tom Connors, which depicts the hard-drinking, hard-partying social life of hard rock miners in the Northern Ontario mining city of Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia ...
", "
Bud the Spud
"Bud the Spud" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors. The song is an account of a trucker who hauls potatoes from Prince Edward Island, Connors' home province.[The Hockey Song
"The Hockey Song", sometimes mistakenly called "The Good Old Hockey Game", is a song written and originally performed by Canadian folksinger Stompin' Tom Connors.
The song's first release was on Connors' 1973 album, ''Stompin' Tom and the Hoc ...]
"; the last is played at various games throughout the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
, including at every
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Divi ...
home game.
In 2018, the song was inducted into the
Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (''Panthéon des Auteurs et Compositeurs canadiens'') is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categori ...
in a ceremony at a Leafs game.
Early life
Charles Thomas Connors was born on February 9, 1936, at the
General Hospital in
Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...
, to Isabel Connors and Thomas Joseph Sullivan.
Isabel's family were
Irish Protestants
Protestantism is a Christian minority on the island of Ireland. In the 2011 census of Northern Ireland, 48% (883,768) described themselves as Protestant, which was a decline of approximately 5% from the 2001 census. In the 2011 census of the ...
, and his maternal grandfather, John Connors, was a sea captain from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
, Massachusetts, who had died before Charles was born. His father was a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
of Irish ancestry, and "may have been
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...
or ...
Micmac." Isabel Connors and Thomas Joseph Sullivan did not marry until 30 years later, as Sullivan's family were devout Catholics and did not want him marrying a Protestant; they later divorced. Sullivan's mother gave him $10, and he was told to leave home. Connors was also a cousin of New Brunswick
fiddling sensation, Ned Landry.
Connors' first home was on St. Patrick Street, in the "poorest and most rundown part of Saint John". He lived there with his mother, his maternal grandmother Lucy Scribner, and his maternal stepgrandfather Joe Scribner When Connors was three, Lucy and Joe died within weeks of each other. This forced Isabel to move to a two-bedroom apartment. Around this time Isabel got pregnant again by Tom's father when he briefly returned, and Tom got a taste of hitchhiking when he and Isabel went to visit relatives in
Tusket Falls, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth, officially named the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth, is a district municipality in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
The district municipalit ...
. This trip was the first time he saw his mother steal to feed them, when she stole food from a Chinese restaurant in
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, industries include fishing, and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries.
History
Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the regi ...
. When they returned to Saint John, they moved in with friends of Isabel and she gave birth to Tom's sister Marie, who had to stay in hospital to have a birthmark removed. Later, Isabel and Tom moved in with her new boyfriend Terrence Messer at the corner of Clarence and Erin Streets. While they did not marry, the family would take on his surname. Terrence and Isabel did pretend to be married to find a place to live, due to the moral standards of the time. The family was quite poor, and Terrence was a neglectful stepfather, who spent most of the family's money on wine. When they missed paying rent, the family was evicted and moved to a house on St. Patrick Street. Marie finally came home from the hospital then, but she died when Tom was four, following more surgery to remove another birthmark. To make ends meet, Isabel got a job scrubbing floors and Terrence did odd jobs. The family was evicted again after a spat with the landlord when Tom started a fire in their apartment. Their next home was a basement apartment on King Street.
Connors spent a short time living with his mother in a low-security women's penitentiary before he was seized by
Children's Aid Society
Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employe ...
and later adopted by Cora and Russell Aylward
in
Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island.
At 13 he ran away from his adoptive family to hitchhike across Canada. He got his first guitar at 14, and at 15 he wrote his first song called "Reversing Falls Darling". His hitchhiking journey consumed the next 13 years of his life as he travelled among various part-time jobs while writing songs on his guitar, singing for his supper. He worked in mines and rode in boxcars,
and in the coldest part of winter he welcomed vagrancy arrests for the warm place to sleep.
At his last stop in
Timmins
Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ex ...
, 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
CKGB-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format at 99.3 FM in Timmins, Ontario. The station uses the on-air brand ''KiSS 99.3'' and is owned by Rogers Sports & Media.
History
The station was launched in late ...
in Timmins, eight 45-RPM recordings, and the end of the beginning for Tom Connors.
Musical career
Connors was never part of the Canadian musical establishment, and his style was quite different from other Canadian icons such as
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
or
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 19 ...
.
He could, however, be characterized as a passionist poet within Canadian culture, similar to
Milton Acorn
Milton James Rhode Acorn (March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed ''The People's Poet'' by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright.
Early life
He was born in Prince Edward Island, and grew up in Charlottetown. He joined the ...
and
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.
Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and ...
. As the ''
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'' characterized him:
Typically writing about Canadian lore and history, some of Connors' better-known songs include "
Bud the Spud
"Bud the Spud" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors. The song is an account of a trucker who hauls potatoes from Prince Edward Island, Connors' home province.[Big Joe Mufferaw
Joseph "Jos" Montferrand (; born Joseph Favre ; October 25, 1802 – October 4, 1864) was a French-Canadian logger, strongman, and folk hero of the working man and was the inspiration for the legendary Ottawa Valley figure Big Joe Mufferaw.
...]
", "
The Black Donnellys
''The Black Donnellys'' is an American drama television series that debuted on NBC on February 26, 2007, and last aired on May 14, 2007. Thereafter, NBC began releasing new episodes weekly on NBC.com until the series was canceled. ''The Black ...
", "
The Martin Hartwell Story
Marten Hartwell (1925 – April 2, 2013) was a German-Canadian bush pilot in the Canadian Arctic. On November 8, 1972, the plane that Hartwell was flying on a medical evacuation crashed. One passenger was killed on impact, another died shortly a ...
", "
Reesor Crossing Tragedy", "
Sudbury Saturday Night "Sudbury Saturday Night" is one of the most famous songs by Stompin' Tom Connors, which depicts the hard-drinking, hard-partying social life of hard rock miners in the Northern Ontario mining city of Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia ...
", and "
The Hockey Song
"The Hockey Song", sometimes mistakenly called "The Good Old Hockey Game", is a song written and originally performed by Canadian folksinger Stompin' Tom Connors.
The song's first release was on Connors' 1973 album, ''Stompin' Tom and the Hoc ...
". This last, often incorrectly called "The Good Old Hockey Game," is frequently played over sound systems at
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
(NHL) games.
Throughout the years, Tom never lost touch with Gaëtan Lepine, the bartender he befriended in Timmins; in fact, the two wrote many songs together. These songs are featured in ''250 Songs by Stompin' Tom: Including All the Words and Chords''.
In 1968, he composed and sang a radio jingle for a Sudbury-area tire store, Duhamel & Dewar, in exchange for a set of winter tires.
During the mid-1970s Connors wrote and recorded ''The Consumer'', an ode to bill-paying that became the theme song for the popular
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...
(CBC) consumer affairs program ''
Marketplace
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...
''. For the first few seasons, Connors appeared in the program's opening credits, before "The Consumer" was replaced as the theme—initially by an instrumental background version and ultimately by a different piece of music.
In 1974 Tom had a series running on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
in which he met and exchanged with folks from all across Canada. ''
Stompin' Tom's Canada
''Stompin' Tom's Canada'' is a Canadian music and documentary television series which aired on CBC Television from 1974 to 1975.
Premise
This series featured Stompin' Tom Connors
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC (February 9, 1936 � ...
'' was co-produced with the CBC, and consisted of 26 half-hour episodes.
The song that Tom wrote in the least time was "Maritime Waltz", which was completed in 12 minutes.
His character was rough but genuine. As the ''
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'' noted:
In 1999, after completing a 38-city tour,
Connors received the National Achievement Award at the annual
SOCAN
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...
Awards held in Toronto.
In 2009, Connors was the recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual
SOCAN
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...
Awards in Toronto.
Nickname
Connors' habit of stomping the heel of his left boot to keep rhythm earned him the nickname "that stompin' guy", or "Stomper". It wasn't until
Canada's 100th birthday,
July 1, 1967, that the name "Stompin" Tom Connors was first used, when Boyd MacDonald, a waiter at the King George Tavern in
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
, Ontario, introduced Tom on stage. Based on an enthused audience reaction to it, Tom had it officially registered in Ontario as Stompin' Tom Ltd. the following week. 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 became 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". Connors periodically auctioned off his "stompin' boards" for charity, with one board selling for $15,000 in July 2011.
Favourite guitar
Tom's favourite guitar was a
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gibso ...
Southern Jumbo acoustic that he purchased in 1956 while on his way through
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...
and Mexico. He discovered it in a furniture store, hidden in a case on top of a shelf and, after some haggling, purchased it for $80 (he had $90 with him). The guitar was used to audition in 1964 at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, as well as for writing ''Bud the Spud'' four years later. Although retired in 1972, it remained in his possession. It has subsequently been refurbished, a birthday gift from his wife Lena. The serial number inside the guitar reads 2222 in red stamped numbers and the actual age of the guitar is still unknown.
Releases
Connors released music on seven different labels. His earliest foray into recording was on the CKGB Timmins radio station label. These
45 RPM singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
were pressed by
Quality Records
Quality Records was a Canadian entertainment company which released music albums in Canada on behalf of American record labels. They also released recordings by Canadian artists.
The company operated between 1950 and 1985 with offices in Toron ...
in Toronto, and distributed (and paid for) primarily by Tom. His first two albums (and two subsequent 45 RPM singles) were released on the Rebel Records bluegrass label, under the name "Tom Connors". These two albums were subsequently re-released on Dominion Records under the Stompin' Tom moniker and had to be totally re-recorded due to a dispute with Rebel Records owner John Irvine.
Most of Connors' well-known albums were released on Dominion Records (1969–70), and after 1971 on the
Boot Records
Boot Records was a Canadian country, bluegrass, and contemporary folk label formed in 1971 in Toronto by Stompin' Tom Connors and his manager, Jury Krytiuk.
Early years
Originally started as a format for Connors' recordings, Boot shortly after be ...
label that he co-founded with Jury Krytiuk and Mark Altman. His releases on Dominion (and all subsequent releases) were done under the name "Stompin' Tom Connors". Most of the Rebel and Dominion albums would be reissued (and in some cases, re-recorded) under the Boot label, and would represent the bulk of his recorded material. It was released on 33 RPM record albums, 45 RPM record singles,
8-tracks, and
cassette tapes
The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otte ...
.
After his retreat from the music business in the late 1970s, he started the A-C-T (Assisting Canadian Talent) label in 1986, and released two albums: ''Stompin' Tom is Back to Assist Canadian Talent'' and his comeback album, ''Fiddle and Songs'' in 1988. A-C-T also re-released Tom's back catalogue on cassette tapes only.
All of his subsequent releases (and re-releases) have been through
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
/
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, ...
. Most of this work is now available on Compact Disc. In recent years, many of his album releases have included at least one re-recording of one of his earlier songs.
Promoting Canadian artists
Connors founded three record labels, which promoted not just his own work, but that of other Canadian artists:
*
Boot Records
Boot Records was a Canadian country, bluegrass, and contemporary folk label formed in 1971 in Toronto by Stompin' Tom Connors and his manager, Jury Krytiuk.
Early years
Originally started as a format for Connors' recordings, Boot shortly after be ...
, together with its budget label Cynda, which were active in the 1970s and 1980s
* A-C-T, active from the late 1980s
Among artists who were featured on these labels were
Liona Boyd
Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd, (born 11 July 1949) is a classical guitarist often referred to as the First Lady of the Guitar.
Music career
Early years
Boyd was born in London and grew up in Toronto. Her father grew up in Bilbao, Spain, and her ...
,
Rita MacNeil
Rita MacNeil (May 28, 1944 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray t ...
,
The Canadian Brass
The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach ( tuba) and Gene Watts ( trombone), with horn player Graeme Page and trumpeters Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips completing the quin ...
,
Dixie Flyers,
Charlie Panigoniak
Charlie Panigoniak (, 7 March 1946 – 6 March 2019), born in Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories in what is now Nunavut, Canada, was an Inuk singer-songwriter and guitarist whose albums reflect on northern life.
He began recording i ...
, among others.
Liona Boyd
Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd, (born 11 July 1949) is a classical guitarist often referred to as the First Lady of the Guitar.
Music career
Early years
Boyd was born in London and grew up in Toronto. Her father grew up in Bilbao, Spain, and her ...
recalled in 2013 about the time Connors signed Boyd to Boot for her first record, 1974's ''The Guitar'', and two more:
Cultural and historical references
In the book ''
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda'', Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general who led the
UNAMIR
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, w ...
peacekeeping force in
Rwanda during that country's 1994 genocide reported that he played a recording of Tom's song "The Blue Berets" (about United Nations peacekeeping forces) to keep up his troops' morale while their headquarters was under bombardment.
The Les Claypool Frog Brigade
Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade (also known as The Les Claypool Frog Brigade) is a musical project with rotating personnel, led by American singer/bassist Les Claypool. The Frog Brigade was formed during a hiatus from Claypoo ...
mentions Connors in the song "Long in the Tooth" on the album ''
Purple Onion'', while
Corb Lund
Corb Lund is a Canadian country and western singer-songwriter from Taber, Alberta, Canada. He has released eleven albums, three of which are certified gold. Lund tours regularly in Canada, the United States and Australia, and has received several ...
references him in the song "Long Gone to Saskatchewan" and
Dean Brody
Dean Brody (born August 12, 1975) is a Canadian country music artist who has won 16 CCMA Awards and 2 JUNO Awards. Originally signed to Broken Bow Records in 2008, Brody made his debut later that year with the single " Brothers". This song, a Top ...
references him in the song "
Canadian Girls
"Canadian Girls" is a song written and recorded by Canadian country music artist Dean Brody. It was released in January 2012 as the first single from his album '' Dirt''. The song reached 36 on the Canadian Hot 100 in February 2012.
Critical r ...
".
Tim Hus
Tim Hus (born in Nelson, British Columbia) is a Canadian country/folk singer, based out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Tim Hus and his Travelin' Band, which includes bull fiddler Riley Tubbs, Billy MacInnis on lead guitar and fiddle, and occasio ...
also wrote a song titled "Man with the Black Hat" about Connors.
Songs referencing Canadian historical events
The following is a list of events in the
history of Canada
The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia b ...
which have been the subject of a song by Connors, who is widely renowned for singing about both well-known and little-known episodes in the country's past.
Personal life
Connors married Lena Welsh on November 2, 1973. The ceremony was broadcast live on ''
Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date
''Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date'' was a Canadian television talk show series which aired on CBC Television from 1963 to 1975.
Elwood Glover had hosted noon-time programming on CBC Radio from 1956. A new studio was set up at the Four Seasons Hote ...
'' on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
. During an interview on the show, he said they had chosen to get married on television to share this happy moment with his fans across the country whose support had rescued him from a difficult pre-showbusiness life.
Connors had a son, Taw Connors. He also had another son Tom jr.
Connors was a heavy smoker—estimated to consume 100 cigarettes a day
—and an equally heavy drinker. On tour, he had to drive the lead truck, and could never be the last person to go to bed, and that often meant that his fellow musicians had to keep up with his pace.
Connors always wore his black
Stetson
Stetson is a brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, in particular, in Scouting.
John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous hats when ...
in public, and refused to remove it for any reason, even when meeting
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
at a dinner in Ottawa in October 2002. Buckingham Palace smoothed the way by likening Mr. Connors's hat to a religious headdress such as a nun's habit or a Sikh's turban.
However, Connors did go hatless during his nationally-televised wedding on CBC-TV to Lena Welsh.
Retirement and nationalist protest
As the 1970s progressed, he retired to his farm at Ballinafad, near
Erin, Ontario
Erin is a town in Wellington County, approximately northwest of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Erin is bordered by the Town of Caledon, Ontario to the east, the Town of Halton Hills to the south, the Township of Guelph/Eramosa to the west and the T ...
, to protest the lack of support given to Canadian stories by the policies of the Federal government, particularly the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC). He also boycotted the
Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...
s in protest of the qualification guidelines set by the
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Canadian music and artists. It administers the Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the MusiCounts music education cha ...
(CARAS) for possible nominees who were being consistently nominated and awarded outside of their musical genre. He strongly opposed a