Now we’ve got something to really work with. Nona lives to sing and she sang the song whenever the
occasion would arise. First with friends and family, people who said “You should record that.” So as a lark,
we thought why not. Everything we did with the song was for the fun of it. We applied for and got a
copyright. Talked to a couple of friends about how to record it – one of whom already had a recording. Lots
of dead ends until we called a friend in Shoreview and asked about recording studios listed in the yellow
pages. We found three to be expensive and one OK. Next step was to line up a local lead guitarist and
Nona’s brother Mark for rhythm guitar to join us. Mark had connections at Mankato State (now Minnesota
State) so we were able to use the recital hall to make the first tape which we took to the recording studio.
The tape was awful. The guy at the studio said to come back and record it there so we regrouped and all
went to the studio. Now there was another catch. He was associated with a gospel radio station and only
recorded gospel music, not normally songs about beer. He could not be associated with a song about beer.
We would have to create our own label and company name. OK, we can do that, and ENVY Records was
born. Get it, NV? The label would be Old Rust Beer. Another catch, there were no recording booths and
no amps so Nona had to watch the guitar picking to stay with the music. The guy that had the studio
enjoyed the song so much that he could not resist putting his name on the record as engineer.
Remember all the people who said “You should record that.” Now what do we do? The BCCA debut of the
record was probably Weekend At Wally’s in Eau Claire. Friends at the Badger Bunch took several records
to sell for us. Nona sang the song at trade sessions, in local clubs around Albert Lea, etc. One night we
were going to a barn dance and there it was on the radio station in Albert Lea. Not just on, but in a call in
contest competing with the record my friend had cut years before. Beer Can Widowed Wife found its way to
a few juke boxes in Freeborn County and the sales counter of a few stores. How much fun was that?
CANvention was looming in Milwaukee so to be prepared, we had a cassette recording to let people prevue
the music. As we walked to our room in the hotel, we heard from one of the rooms “Old Beer Cans, New
Beer Cans, ………”. The song got there ahead of us thanks to the Badger Bunch. Nona performed the
song twice at the Milwaukee CANvention and even had an
autograph session.
TV 6 in Austin heard about the song and called to interview
Nona at our house. The interviewer was so taken with our
small collection of cans that he apparently forgot why he was
really there and focused on collecting cans instead of the song.
He even spelled her name as Noona on the TV screen.
This is a little hard to believe, but the beat goes on. We winter
now at St. Simons Island GA where we have developed
several friendships, most of whom are from Pennsylvania, New
York, Ontario and Quebec. We had mentioned the song to
them and in 2014 Nona was on stage at both Jekyll Island and
St. Simons Island with two different bands.
All we wanted to do was to have some fun and maybe make our investment back. Both happened. So now
you know the story of the Beer Can Widow. Maybe you can talk her into singing it for you but you’ll have to
join in.
This is my third and almost final article. I saved the best for last. Steve and Susan have agreed to sit down
with us and scratch each other’s heads to remember some people and events from the very early days of
the chapter. You all know Steve and Susan so I think you will enjoy our recollections. Maybe I can even get
my son Jeff, who has begun to collect, to recall those days from a kid’s perspective. I know we will all have
fun kicking around those memories.
See ya’ll soon,
Good Ol’ Bob
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