“We’d sing around the dressing room and were chatting, and we became great friends ever since that time. And I just went, ‘Wow! This is something special.’ And when she ended up doing ‘Working Man,’ I went, ‘Double wow!’ That is a killer (song).” Minglewood recalled playing a summertime show at the Cheticamp arena back then, and MacNeil happened to be on the same bill. Ralph certainly recognized the talent she had in singing and songwriting.” “(The late) Ralph Dillion had taken her under his wing and put a band together for her and prompted her to get out and play. “In the late 1970s, I started hearing about this girl who moved back home from Toronto,” Matt Minglewood said about the first time he heard about Rita MacNeil. CONTRIBUTED/MATT INGRAHAM - CONTRIBUTED/MATT INGRAHAM The Men of the Deeps will honour Rita MacNeil with a tribute show at the Big Pond Fire Hall Sunday at 2 p.m. People relate to it because there has been mining in every province, every state in the U.S.” And we just did the song together - and it went over so well. (Former musical director) Jack O’Donnell ended up doing an arrangement for us to learn. “Rita thought it would be a good idea for us to back her up on it. “It started out at a show of hers at the Savoy (Theatre) that we were both involved in,” MacLeod said. MacLeod remembers when MacNeil offered to include the all-male chorale as part of the song. Inspired by a visit to Sydney Mines’ Princess Colliery where tours were once held, “Working Man” was first released on MacNeil’s second album, 1981’s “Part of the Mystery” then re-recorded for 1988’s “Reason to Believe” album, accompanied by The Men of the Deeps. She was very knowledgeable, and obviously a great songwriter.” “It touches the heart so much - but that emotional side of the song was her speaking to the miners. “Being a coal miner, I was blown away by the song,” said MacLeod from New Waterford, who has been a Men of the Deeps member since 1976. The first time he heard MacNeil’s “Working Man,” Nipper MacLeod knew the songstress reached a connection with him and many more who spent years working “down underground” throughout industrial Cape Breton’s coal mining communities. The Cape Breton Post reached out to several individuals to recall their best memories of the Canadian icon. She also shared many humorous moments, including a cameo in a 2004 episode of “Trailer Park Boys” aptly named "Workin' Man" and a final burial instruction wish “to be cremated immediately, my ashes to be placed in my tea room teapot. MacNeil is recognized for such well-known songs as "Flying on Your Own," "Reason to Believe," “She’s Called Nova Scotia,” "Home I'll Be" and, accompanied by The Men of the Deeps, "Working Man." at the Big Pond Community Centre/ Fire Hall. Tickets are $30, with profits going toward the purchase and installation of two road signs denoting MacNeil's birthplace.Īnd both acts, along with Matt Minglewood, will be among the first inductees into the newly established Cape Breton Music Industry Hall of Fame, slated for April 20, 7 p.m., at Centre 200. One of her touring cohorts, The Men of the Deeps, are paying tribute to MacNeil with a performance Sunday, 2 p.m.
The pride of Big Pond - often dubbed Cape Breton’s first lady of song - died on April 16, 2013, 10 years ago this Sunday, at age 68 following complications from surgery.
The singer-songwriter, whose music crossed through folk, pop and country genres, would often “spoke of her love of home and family, the courage to rise above life's challenges and the hard-working men and women that tie this country together” in her songs, according to her 2013 obituary. Her family described Rita MacNeil as "a gentle soul with a heart of gold and the voice of an angel."
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