RIP: Kinky Friedman
(November 1, 1944 – June 27, 2024)
Richard Samet “Kinky” Friedman was an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and columnist for Texas Monthly, who styled himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain.
Friedman was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election. Receiving 12.6% of the vote, Friedman placed fourth in the six-person race.
Friedman formed his first band, King Arthur & the Carrots, while a student at the University of Texas at Austin. The band, which poked fun at surf music, recorded only one single in 1966 (“Schwinn 24/Beach Party Boo Boo”).
By 1973, Friedman had formed his second band, Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys, which many took to be a play on the name of the famous band Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. In keeping with the band’s satirical nature, each member had a comical name: in addition to Kinky there were Little Jewford, Big Nig, Panama Red, Wichita Culpepper, Sky Cap Adams, Rainbow Colours, and Snakebite Jacobs. More conventionally named roadie Jack Slaughter and road manager Dylan Ferrero rounded out the crew and provided most of the driving of the “tour bus”, a Cadillac with 10-year-old expired license plates and a propensity to break down (but, according to Friedman, her talent laid in her ability to stop on a dime and pick up the change).
Friedman’s father objected to the name of the band, calling it a “negative, hostile, peculiar thing”, which gave Kinky even more reason to choose the name.
RIP: Kinky Friedman
(November 1, 1944 – June 27, 2024)