The beloved singer Rita MacNeil died in April. What a lot of people might not know is that she got her start writing and singing songs for the women's liberation movement of the early 1970s.

Songs played on this show include Born a Woman, Working Man and Bring it on Home, as well as a collection of early ones.

You can listen to the show right here!

When Rita MacNeil died in April, there was an outpouring of grief for and stories about the soft spoken and shy singer whose songs told stories of Cape Breton and working people. On this show, we look back to the days when she was an up-and-coming artist making her mark in the women's liberation movement of the early 1970s.

The first piece on this edition of Rewind is an interview punctuated by powerful a capella performances of MacNeil's early songs. It aired in 1972 just months after she performed publicly for the first time. The program was called Bringing Back the Future, described as an alternative culture music and talk show for the university age crowd. The show had a relaxed and casual sound, a definite departure from the sound of CBC programs just a few years previous. From 1972, Ann Pohl interviews Rita MacNeil.

In 1979. MacNeil's first album Born a Woman was earning her thousands of fans. She was playing at folk festivals and concerts across the country. In that breakthrough year she was interviewed on Don Harron's Morningside.

Later that year, MacNeil, lonely for Cape Breton, decided to move back to her hometown of Big Pond. She discussed that decision with Hana Gartner.

In the 1970s, MacNeil was proud to sing for the "women's liberation" movement. But by 1986 she was distancing herself a little from that label. She discussed that with Erika Ritter on Dayshift.

1986 was an important year for Rita. Her performances at Expo 86 in Vancouver gave her an expanded national and international audience. In 1987, her album Flying on Your Own went gold. At the Juno Awards that year, at the age of 42, she was named Most Promising Female Vocalist. By the time she was on Morningside with Peter Gzowski in 1993, Rita MacNeil was a bona fide star. She had received honorary doctorates, the Order of Canada and she was set to launch her own program on CBC Television. 

But she was still the same old Rita- humble, shy and genuinely nice.

In December of that year her Christmas special was so popular that it led to a variety show called Rita and Friends, which ran for three seasons on CBC Television. There were countless awards- more Junos, Canadian Country Music Awards, East Coast Music Awards and a Gemini. She opened Rita's Tea House in Big Pond, where busloads of visitors soaked up some Cape Breton charm. She wrote a play and her memoirs, and she kept on singing and recording music.

MacNeil had her share of struggles- she was born with a cleft palate, she suffered from intense shyness and she battled weight issues. But as she told one interviewer, "We all look different in this world but we should all have the right to do what we love to do."
In early April, MacNeil complained of stomach pains and went to the hospital in Sydney. She died of an abdominal infection a few days later. She was 68.