Kinky Friedman, singer, songwriter, provocateur and politician, dies

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Singer, songwriter, satirist and novelist Kinky Friedman, who led the alt-country band Texas Jewboys, toured with Bob Dylan, sang with Willie Nelson, and dabbled in politics with campaigns for Texas governor and different statewide places of work, has died.

Friedman, 79, died Thursday at his household’s Texas ranch close to San Antonio, shut buddy Kent Perkins informed The Related Press. Friedman had suffered from Parkinson’s illness for a number of years, Perkins stated.

“He died peacefully. He smoked a cigar, went to mattress and by no means awoke,” stated Perkins, who was working as an actor when he met Friedman at a celebration 50 years in the past when each had been signed to Columbia data and film contracts.

“We had been the one two individuals with tuxedos and cowboys hats. Two Texans gravitating towards one another,” Perkins stated. “He was the final free individual on earth … He had an irreverence about him. He was a fearless author.”

Usually known as “The Kinkster” and sporting sideburns, a thick mustache and cowboy hat, Friedman earned a cult following and status as a provocateur all through his profession throughout musical and literary genres.

Within the Nineteen Seventies, his satirical nation band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys wrote songs with titles reminiscent of “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits within the Oven and Your Buns in Mattress.” Friedman joined a part of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976.

By the Nineteen Eighties, Friedman was writing crime novels that always included a model of himself, and he wrote a column for Texas Month-to-month journal within the 2000s.

Friedman’s run at politics introduced his model of irreverence to the intense world of public coverage. In 2006, Friedman ran for governor as an impartial in a five-way race that included incumbent Republican Rick Perry. Friedman launched his marketing campaign towards the backdrop of the Alamo.

“We’re gypsies on a pirate ship, and we’re setting sail for the Governor’s Mansion,” Friedman stated on the marketing campaign launch. “I’m calling for the unconditional give up of Rick Perry.”

Some noticed the marketing campaign as one other Friedman joke, however he insisted it was critical. His platform known as for legalizing medical marijuana, boosting public schooling spending by on line casino playing and supported same-sex marriage. Marketing campaign slogans included “How Onerous May It Be?” and “He ain’t Kinky, he’s my Governor.”

“Humor is what I exploit to assault the windmills of politics as traditional,” Friedman stated.

Perry gained re-election in 2006, and Friedman completed final. He didn’t surrender politics, nevertheless, and unsuccessfully ran for state agriculture commissioner as a Democrat in 2010 and 2014.

Born in Chicago, Richard Samet Friedman grew up in Texas. The household’s Echo Hill ranch the place Friedman died ran a camp for kids of fogeys killed serving within the army.

Funeral providers had been pending, Perkins stated.