Kinky Friedman

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Image:Kinky friedman.jpg Richard F. "Kinky" Friedman, (born October 31, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and novelist, who is currently an independent candidate for the office of Governor of the State of Texas.

Personal life

Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Jewish parents, Friedman's family moved to a ranch in central Texas during his childhood. He had a keen interest in both music and chess at an early age. Friedman was chosen when he was seven years old to be one of fifty local chess players to challenge Polish-born U.S. grand master Samuel Reshevsky to simultaneous matches in Houston. While Reshevsky won all fifty matches, Friedman was by far the youngest competitor. Friedman graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts, double-majoring in Psychology and Plan II Honors. He then served two years with the Peace Corps in Borneo with John Gross.Template:Fact He has been featured in the news including 60 Minutes on CBS and made an appearance as one of Jay Leno's guests.

Friedman currently lives at Echo Hill Ranch, his family's summer camp near Kerrville, Texas, just outside of Medina. He also founded Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, whose mission is to care for stray, abused and aging animals; more than 1,000 dogs have been saved from euthanasia.

Music career

Friedman formed his band, The Texas Jewboys, in the early 1970s. Friedman's father objected to the name of the band, calling it a "negative, hostile, peculiar thing."

Arriving on the wave of country rock following on from Gram Parsons, The Band and Eagles, Friedman originally found cult fame as a country and western singer. His repertoire mixed social commentary ("We Reserve The Right To Refuse Service To You") and maudlin ballads ("Western Union Wire") with raucous humor (such as "Get Your Biscuits In The Oven and Your Buns In Bed"). His "Ride'em Jewboy" was an extended tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.

He confronted racism and anti-Semitism head-on in the song, "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore," a song in which the fictitious Kinky verbally and physically beats up a drunken White racist who berates African Americans, Jews, Greeks and Sigma Nu's in a bar.

Sample lyrics: "You know, you don't look Jewish, near as I can figger, I had you lamped for a slightly anemic well-dressed country nigger!"

and

"Oh, they ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore, They ain't makin' carpenters that know what nails are for"

In the spring of 1976 he joined Bob Dylan on the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour.

Friedman was a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in October 1976. It has been reported by Mr. Friedman himself that he is the only artist known to have taped an episode of Austin City Limits only to have it never reach the airwaves.

Album Discography

• Sold American (1973)
• Kinky Friedman (1974)
• Lasso From El Paso (1976)
• Live From The Lone Star Cafe (1982)
• Under the Double Ego (1983)
• Old Testaments and New Revelations (1992)
• From One Good American To Another (1995)
• Classic Snatches from Europe (2000)
• Mayhem Aforethought (2005)
• They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore (2005)

Writing career

After his music career stalled in the 1980s, Friedman found a new lease on life as a detective novelist. His books have similarities to his music, featuring a fictionalized version of himself solving crimes in New York City and dispensing jokes, wisdom, Texan charm and Jameson's whiskey in equal measure. They are written in a straightforward style which owes a debt to Raymond Chandler.

Friedman has also written a regular column for the magazine Texas Monthly since April 2001, although it has been suspended during his run for governor of Texas; his last essay appeared in the March 2005 issue.

Selected bibliography

Politics

In the early 1980s, Friedman ran for Justice of the Peace in Kerrville, Texas, but lost the election.

In 2004, Friedman began a serious, though colorful, campaign to become the Governor of Texas in 2006. One of his stated goals is the "dewussification" of Texas. Among his campaign slogans are "How Hard Could It Be?" and "Why The Hell Not?" Other bumper stickers concur: "My Governor is a Jewish Cowboy", and "He aint Kinky, he's my Governor".[1] He hopes to follow in the footsteps of other entertainers-turned-governors, including Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ronald Reagan. When the campaign finance reports came out after the second quarter had ended, Friedman shockingly outraised former Democratic Congressman Chris Bell.

His campaign seems to be similar to the 1998 populist independent campaign of Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura. On education, he supports higher pay for teachers and work to lower Texas's highest-of-the-nation dropout rate.[2] He also supports more investment in harnessing Texas's alternative fuel resources such as wind and biodiesel.[3] On social issues he has supported gay marriage, answering an AP reporter's question on subject on Feb. 3, 2005, he remarked "I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us."[4]

On the death penalty, he previously summed up his position, "I am not anti-death penalty, but I'm damn sure anti-the-wrong-guy-getting-executed."[5] However, more recently he has said that he has changed his position, "The system is not perfect. Until it's perfect, let's do away with the death penalty."[6]

Since he began campaigning, Friedman has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, Real Time with Bill Maher, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Friedman is friends with both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both of whom have invited him to visit the White House. He wrote about his friendships with them in his November 2001 column ("Hail to the Kinkster") for Texas Monthly.

Support for the campaign

Don Imus, the host of Imus in the Morning on radio and TV, has publicly (and frequently) announced his endorsement of Friedman for the governorship of Texas.

In March 2006, Entertainer Mojo Nixon,announced his "un-retirement" as a performing musician to support the candidacy of Kinky Friedman. Previously, Mojo Nixon had retired as singer-songwriter to focus on his new career as a disc jockey for Sirius Satellite radio. To celebrate Kinky's campaign, Mojo re-wrote his hit single "Elvis is Everywhere" as "Kinky is Everywhere," which can currently be downloaded at the MojoNixon.com website.

Country singer Willie Nelson recorded a campaign radio spot to assist in the petition drive to get Friendman on the ballot.

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External links

• {{{2|{{{name|Kinky Friedman}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
• Kinky Friedman's Official website
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteer stories about Friedman
• Profile of Friedman's political campaign in the August 22, 2005 New Yorker
• List of Friedman's articles and Hail to the Kinkster from Texas Monthly
• Kinky Friedman interviewed for Texas Monthly Talks
• Kinky's Run For Governor Of Texas (Article; Video) 60 Minutes, January 22, 2006de:Kinky Friedman

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