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Biography
Infobox person|image=Kinky friedman 2006.jpg|caption=Friedman contemplates a question from the audience at a campaign rally in Bastrop, Texas in 2006.|birth_name=Richard S. Friedman|name=Kinky Friedman|other_names= Kinky|nationality=U.S.A.|birth_date=birth date and age|mf=yes|1944|11|1|occupation= Singing|Singer |birth_place= Chicago , Illinois |known_for=Music Texas gubernatorial election, 2006|Candidate in Texas' gubernatorial election |parents=Thomas Friedman Minnie Samet Friedman|party= Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic |religion= Judaism |residence= Medina, Texas |website= http://www.getkinky.org blog http://www.kinkyfriedman.com campaign Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman (born November 1, 1944 http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/node/719 The Kosher Cowboy) is an American Texas Country singing|singer , songwriter , novelist , humorist , politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular :Category:American satirists|American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain . http://booktv.org/program.aspx? ProgramId=8743& SectionName=& PlayMedia=No You Can Lead a Politician to Water, But You Can't Make Him Think, BookTV.org, October, 2007 He was one of two independent (politician)|independent candidates in the Texas gubernatorial election, 2006|2006 election for the office of Governor of Texas . Receiving 12.6% of the vote, Friedman placed fourth in the six-person race.
Biography
Friedman was born in Chicago to Jew ish parents, Dr. S. Thomas Friedman and his wife Minnie (Samet) Friedman. The family moved to a ranch in central Texas a few years later. Friedman had an early interest in both music and chess , and was chosen at age 7 as one of 50 local players to challenge U.S. grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky to simultaneous games in Houston . Reshevsky won all 50 games, but Friedman was by far the youngest competitor.
Friedman graduated from Austin High School (Austin, Texas)|Austin High School in Austin, Texas in 1962 and earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966, majoring in Psychology . He took part in the Plan II Honors program and was a member of the Tau Delta Phi fraternity. During his freshman year, Chinga Chavin gave Friedman the nickname "Kinky" because of his curly hair. http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050822fa_fact Lone Star: Kinky Friedman on the campaign trail by Dan Halpern, The New Yorker , 2005-08-22.
Friedman served two years in the United States Peace Corps , teaching in Borneo in Malaysia with John Gross . During his service in the Peace Corps, he met future road manager Dylan Ferrero, with whom he still works today. http://www.kinkajourecords.com/kinkybio.htm Kinky Friedman Biography, Kinkajou Records. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm? shell=learn.whatispc.notable.artsandlit Notable Former Volunteers / Arts and Literature Friedman lives at Echo Hill Ranch , his family's summer camp near Kerrville, Texas . He founded Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, also located near Kerrville, whose mission is to care for stray, abused and aging animals; more than 1,000 dogs have been saved from animal euthanasia .
Music career
Friedman formed his first band, King Arthur & the Carrots , while a student at the University of Texas. The band - which poked fun at surf music - recorded only one single in 1966 ("Schwinn 24/Beach Party Boo Boo").
By 1971, 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 satire|satirical nature, each member had a comical name: in addition to Kinky there was 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 nasty predilection for going into a coma at the most inconvenient moment (but, according to Friedman, her talent lay 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",cite news |url= http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/19/sunday/main788935_page2.shtml |work=CBS News |title=Kinky Friedman Turns To Politics |date=August 19, 2005 which gave Kinky even more reason to choose the name.
Arriving on the wave of country rock following on from Gram Parsons , The Band , and the Eagles (band)|Eagles , Friedman originally found cult fame as a country and western singer. His break came in 1973 thanks to Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen|Commander Cody , who contacted Vanguard Music on his behalf. Friedman released Kinky Friedman in 1974 for ABC Records, then toured with Bob Dylan in 1975-6.Tucker, Stephen R. (1998). "Kinky Friedman". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music . Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 184. 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 .
One of his most famous numbers is "They Ain't Makin' Jew s Like Jesus Anymore," a song in which Kinky verbally and physically beats up a drunken white Racism|racist who berates Black people|blacks , Jew s, Greeks , and Sigma Nu s in a bar.
Sample lyrics:
:"Oh, they ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore, :& nbsp;They ain't makin' carpenter s that know what nail (engineering)|nails are for"
Other Friedman tunes include "The Ballad of Charles Whitman," in which Friedman lampooned Charles Whitman|Whitman's sniper attack from the University of Texas at Austin 's Main Building (University of Texas at Austin)|Main Building tower on August 1, 1966. His cover of Chinga Chavin 's "Asshole from El Paso, Texas|El Paso ", a parody of Merle Haggard 's " Okie from Muskogee (song)|Okie from Muskogee " is, perhaps, his most famous song.
In 1975, Friedman and his band taped an Austin City Limits show which was never aired. According to the show's executive producer, Terry Lickona, this is the first and only time in the show's long history that an episode went unaired. Lickona told the Austin Chronicle "I've seen it many times it's a very popular party tape among friends. I think it was a great show, and it might be as offensive today as it was back then." http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2004-09-17/music_string_all.html The Austin Chronicle: Music: Looking Out My Back Door: Thirteen from 30 years of 'Austin City Limits'
In early 1976, he joined Bob Dylan on the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour.
Friedman claims to have been the first full-blooded Jew to take the stage at the Grand Ole Opry .
In February 2007, Sustain Records released a compilation of the songs of Kinky Friedman sung by other artists called Why the Hell Not... The compilation includes contributions by Dwight Yoakam , Willie Nelson , Lyle Lovett , and Kelly Willis . http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2083838.html Peace Corps Online | 2007.02.02: February 2, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Malaysia: Writing - Malaysia: Humor: Music: Sherman Denison Herald Democrat : Kinky invites country greats to sing his songs on "Why The Hell Not..."
On April 27, 2011 Friedman launched his Springtime For Kinky Tour (cf. " Springtime For Hitler ") in Kansas City, Missouri at Knuckleheads Saloon cite web |title=Events |url= http://www.kfcigars.com/_events |work=KFC Cigars |accessdate=25 April 2011 which includes dates in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky before heading towards the east coast. This will be followed by a tour of Australia with Van Dyke Parks .cite web |title=Tour news |url= http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/index.html |publisher=kinkyfriedman.com |accessdate=25 April 2011
On July 20, 2007, Friedman hosted the "Concert to Save Town Lake" to honor the memory of Lady Bird Johnson and her efforts to protect and preserve the shores of Town Lake in Austin, Texas. http://digital50.com/news/items/BW/2001/07/14/20070720005009/concert-to-save-town-lake-dedicated-to-lady-bird-johnson.html Digital50: News and more Business News.
After his music career stalled in the 1980s, Friedman shifted his creative focus to writing detective fiction|detective novels . His books have similarities to his music, featuring a Author surrogate|fictionalized version of himself solving crimes in New York City and dispensing jokes, wisdom, recipes, charm and Jameson Irish Whiskey|Jameson's whiskey in equal measure. They are written in a straightforward style which owes a debt to Raymond Chandler . To date, he has written two novels that do not star the Kinky Friedman character: Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned and The Christmas Pig.
Friedman also wrote a regular column for the magazine Texas Monthly from April 2001 to March 2005 which was suspended during his run for governor of Texas. http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/authors/kinkyfriedman.php List of Friedman's articles and http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2001-11-01/roundup.php Hail to the Kinkster from Texas Monthly . In 2008, Texas Monthly brought his column back on a bimonthly basis.
Two books have been published collecting some of these nonfiction writings, as well as previously unpublished ones: ' Scuse Me While I Whip This Out and ''Texas Hold'em . He has also published a travelog ( The Great Psychedelic Armadillo Picnic ) and an etiquette guide.
Friedman's early books have been republished by Friedman's own Vandam Press as ebooks. During March and April 2011 Vandam released seven of Friedman's early titles including: ''Greenwich Killing Time, A Case of Lone Star, Musical Chairs, When The Cat's Away, Frequent Flyer, Roadkill and the rarely seen Curse of the Missing Puppet Head . Elvis Jesus and Coca-Cola, God Bless John Wayne, Blast From The Past, Armadillos and Old Lace and two nonfiction books, Drinker With A Writing Problem and Heroes of A Texas Childhood'' were released in 2011. E-book releases are announced on Friedman's Twitter feed and Facebook page, "TheRealKinkster".
Friedman also announced (via Jim Bessman's column at examiner.com) the upcoming release of all Vandam Press titles as unabridged audio books "read by the author".
The recurring character "Rambam", a New York private investigator and friend of the Friedman character in the books, is based on the real-life investigator, Steven Rombom , who acts as a technical advisor for the real Friedman.CNN.com "Kinky Friedman inspiration gets busted" July 26, 2006. Old Peace Corps friend and long time road manager Dylan Ferrero is also a recurring character in Kinky's mystery novels; his character is known for only speaking in rock and roll quotes, a trait taken from real life.
Politics
See also|Texas gubernatorial election, 2006In 1986, Friedman ran for Justice of the Peace in Kerrville, Texas , as a Republican Party (United States)|Republican but lost the election.
In 2004, Friedman began an ostensibly serious, though colorful, campaign to become the List of Governors of Texas|Governor of Texas in Texas gubernatorial election, 2006|2006 . One of his stated goals is the "dewussification" of Texas. http://www.ccrayz.com/news/? id=7604 ccrayz.com: News. Among his campaign slogans were "How Hard Could It Be? ", "Why The Hell Not? ", "My Governor is a Jewish Cowboy" and "He ain't Kinky, he's my Governor" http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/catalog/product_info.php? products_id=81 Upcoming Appearances | Kinky Friedman. (cf. " He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother ").
Friedman had hoped to follow in the footsteps of other entertainers-turned-governors, including Jimmie Davis , Jesse Ventura , Arnold Schwarzenegger , and Ronald Reagan . Jesse Ventura even campaigned with Friedman for his election. http://wcco.com/politics/kinky.friedman.jesse.2.361880.html http://wcco.com/politics/kinky.friedman.jesse.2.361880.html http://cbs11tv.com/education/Kinky.Friedman.Jesse.2.495984.html? detectflash=false http://cbs11tv.com/education/Kinky.Friedman.Jesse.2.495984.html? detectflash=false When the campaign finance reports came out after the second quarter had ended, Friedman had raised more funds than the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic nominee, former Congressman Chris Bell (politician)|Chris Bell .
On election day, however, Friedman was defeated by a wide margin, receiving less than 13% of the votes in the six-candidate matchup.
Issues and positions
On education, he supports higher pay for teachers and working to lower Texas's dropout rate. http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/index.php? option=com_content& task=view& id=12& Itemid=28 Kinky Friedman | Independent Texan. He supports more investment in harnessing Texas's alternative energy|alternative fuel resources such as wind and biodiesel . Friedman is opposed to the Trans-Texas Corridor since it relies on toll road construction. He feels that the TTC is a land grab of the ugliest kind, with land being taken from hard-working ranchers and farmers in little towns and villages all over Texas. http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/issues/faq.html Kinky Friedman for Governor :: The Issues :: FAQ.
On capital punishment , he previously summed up his position, "I am not anti-death penalty, but I'm damn sure anti-the-wrong-guy-getting-executed." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/19/sunday/main788935.shtml CBS News, Aug. 21, 2005: Kinky Friedman Turns To Politics More recently, he has clarified his position: "The system is not perfect. Until it's perfect, let's do away with the death penalty." http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story? section=local& id=3948211 abc13.com: News from KTRK, around Houston and southeast Texas 2/28/06.
On illegal immigration , Kinky wants to increase the number of Texas National Guard troops on the border (from the current 1,500 to 10,000), impose $25,000 and $50,000 fines on companies that hire illegal immigrants and require foreign nationals seeking employment to purchase a foreign taxpayer ID card once they have passed a criminal background check. "Texas can no longer wait for our federal government to solve our illegal immigration problem," Friedman said. "These are steps that Texas can immediately take to help stem the tide of illegal immigrants penetrating our border." Had he been elected, he had promised to meet regularly Governor Bill Richardson (New Mexico) and then Governor Janet Napolitano (Arizona) to develop a coordinated border state plan to supplement federal efforts to curb illegal immigration. Previously, Kinky put forth the "Five Mexican Generals" Plan, to pay Mexican officials to halt immigration on their side of the border. Although he originally stated "When I talk about the five Mexican generals, people think I'm joking but I'm dead serious", http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/2005/0717/Front_Page/002.html Friedman says all Texans independents, Kilgore News-Herald Friedman later told the Dallas Morning News that the plan, never meant to be carried out, was a joke with an element of seriousness. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/discusslive/viewpoints/stories/081106dnkinkychat.5dc3680.html Chat with the candidates: Kinky Friedman, Dallas Morning News, August 17, 2006.
According to his official Web site, Friedman's answer to the question "How does Kinky feel about abortion ? " is "Kinky believes in a woman's right to choose." In person, he hedges his bet, saying "I'm not pro-life , and I'm not pro-choice . I'm professional football|pro-football ." http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/2005/10/friedman_draws_celebrity_suppo.html Friedman draws celebrity support | Kinky Friedman On social issues he has supported same-sex marriage|gay marriage , answering an Associated Press reporter's question on the subject on Feb. 3, 2005, "I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us."cite news| url= http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/19/sunday/main788935.shtml | work=CBS News | title=Kinky Friedman Turns To Politics | date=August 19, 2005 (Friedman himself has never been married.)
According to Cigar Aficionado magazine, Friedman plans to roll back "any and all smoking bans" if elected. One of his favorite quotes comes from Mark Twain : "If smoking is not allowed in heaven , I shall not go." http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,218,00.html Cigar Aficionado, Lone Star Long Shot. Friedman supports the decriminalization of cannabis (drug)|marijuana , though he doesn't advocate making its sale legal. "I'm not talking about like Amsterdam ," he noted, "We've got to clear some of the room out of the prisons so we can put the bad guys in there, like the pedophiles and the politicians." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4185618.html Friedman urges pot be decriminalized.
Further political activities
On August 9, 2007 the Austin American-Statesman reported that Friedman was considering another run for Governor of Texas in 2010. "I'm open to running", Friedman said, adding that he wouldn't make a final decision until after the 2008 elections.cite web |url= http://www.westernpr.com/Aug_07.htm |title=Kinky says he might have another go at governor |date=2007-08-09 |accessdate=2008-12-02 |publisher= Austin American-Statesman |author=Selby, Gardner W. ( http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/09/0809kinky.html original link). On February 10, 2009 Friedman confirmed to the Associated Press that he was still interested in running. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ismYGH4C0DNCqInzHAZxn6_H1pjQD969CCJO0 Kinky Friedman may run again for governor, Associated Press , February 11, 2009
In an August 23, 2007 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a February 10, 2009 interview with the Associated Press , Friedman stated that if he did run in 2010, he would run as a Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat , citing that "God probably couldn't have won as an independent" and that he was a Democrat all his life. http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/211085.html
On April 14, 2009, Friedman announced in an email to supporters that he intended to make a second gubernatorial run, this time as a Democrat. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6373220.html "Friedman forms fundraising committee", AP Texas News, www.chron.com
Friedman announced on December 14, 2009, that he was leaving the gubernatorial race and would instead seek the Democratic nomination for Texas Agriculture Commissioner in 2010, http://www.kentucky.com/2009/12/15/1060459/kinky-friedman-withdraws-from.html "Kinky Friedman withdraws from Texas governor's race", Lexington Herald-Leader. December 15, 2009. but lost the nomination to rancher Hank Gilbert in the state's primary on March 2, 2010. http://www.woai.com/news/political/story/Kinky-Friedman-loses-agriculture-commissioner-race/I8qtEpSki0yhNk0gUNeXKA.cspx "Kinky Friedman loses agriculture commissioner race", WOAI.com March 2, 2010.
Kinky Friedman says he would support Republican Rick Perry for president in 2012. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/24/kinky-friedman-rick-perry-s-got-my-vote.html
Other work & references in popular culture
Friedman appeared in the 2004 documentary film http://www.bbqfilm.com Barbecue: A Texas Love Story by Austin-based director Chris Elley . In the film, narrated by Governor Ann Richards , Kinky exclaims that "Jesus loved Barbecue" and analyzes the speech patterns of Texans versus New Yorkers. Raw footage from Friedman's interview appears in the 2005 DVD release of the film. He has appeared in other movies as well including Loose Shoes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 . http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295273/ IMDb
Friedman's persona as a politically incorrect raconteur has been likened to that of movie critic and commentator John Irving Bloom, better known in print as Joe Bob Briggs , with whom he appeared in the B movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 . http://www.joebobbriggs.com/drivein/1991/dialingfordingbats.htm Correspondence with fellow raconteur 'Joe Bob' Briggs.
Friedman prefers to smoke Montecristo (cigar brand)|Montecristo No. 2 Cigar s, the same brand once smoked by Fidel Castro . However, he also smokes Bolivar (cigar brand)|Bolivar s, noting that " Simσn Bolνvar is the only person in history to be exiled from a Bolivia|country named after him ." Friedman now makes eponymous cigars under the name Kinky Friedman Cigars. http://www.kinkycigars.com Kinky Friedman Cigars - Home.
Friedman is given brief praise in Joseph Heller 's 1976 novel, Good as Gold (novel)|Good as Gold , in which a governor (meant to satirize Lyndon B. Johnson ), tells the main character, Bruce Gold: "Gold, I like you. You remind me a lot of this famous country singer from Texas I'm crazy about, a fellow calls himself Kinky Friedman, the Original Texas Jewboy. Kinky's smarter, but I like you more."
Friedman is friends with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush , and he has visited both at the White House . He wrote about his friendships with them in his November 2001 column ("Hail to the Kinkster") for Texas Monthly .
The play Becoming Kinky| Becoming Kinky: The World According to Kinky Friedman , directed by Ted Swindley ( Always...Patsy Cline ), starring Jesse Dayton , Little Jewford , Alan Lee and Andross Bautsch, premiered at McGonigel's Mucky Duck in Houston, Texas on March 28, 2011.cite news |title=Every Texan is a little bit KINKY |author= |first=Andrew |last=Dansby |newspaper= Houston Chronicle |date=March 29, 2011 |page=D1 |accessdate=March 29, 2011
Bibliography
Col-beginCol-2
Greenwich Killing Time (1986, ISBN 0-688-06409-4)
A Case Of Lone Star (1987, ISBN 0-517-69427-1)
''When The Cat's Away (1988, ISBN 0-517-07564-4)
Frequent Flyer (1989, ISBN 0-688-08166-5)
Musical Chairs (1991, ISBN 0-688-09148-2)
Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola (1993, ISBN 0-671-86922-1)
Armadillos and Old Lace (1994, ISBN 0-671-86923-X)
Persondata|NAME= Friedman, Kinky |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Friedman, Richard S. (birth name) |SHORT DESCRIPTION= Singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician |DATE OF BIRTH= November 1, 1944 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Chicago , Illinois , United States |DATE OF DEATH= |PLACE OF DEATH= DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Kinky Category:American country singers Category:American Jews Category:American humorists Category:American male singers Category:American mystery writers Category:American novelists Category:American satirists Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:Austin High School (Austin, Texas) alumni Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish singers Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish American politicians Category:Jews and Judaism in Texas Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Peace Corps volunteers Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from Bandera County, Texas Category:Texas Democrats Category:Writers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Writers from Texas Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Independent politicians in the United States Category:Jewish American novelists
