{"id":81713,"date":"2024-06-27T16:26:15","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T21:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=81713"},"modified":"2024-06-27T16:26:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T21:26:15","slug":"kinky-friedman-singer-and-novelist-who-fronted-the-texas-jewboys-dies-at-79","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/kinky-friedman-singer-and-novelist-who-fronted-the-texas-jewboys-dies-at-79\/","title":{"rendered":"Kinky Friedman, singer and novelist who fronted The Texas Jewboys, dies at 79"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014&nbsp;Kinky Friedman, the cigar-chomping, mustachioed Texan country singer and mystery novelist whose body of work often seemed like the un-kosher marriage of the Borscht Belt and the Bible Belt, died June 27 from complications of Parkinson\u2019s disease. He was 79.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_81714\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky.webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81714\" class=\"wp-image-81714 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky-300x201.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky-300x201.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky-768x513.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky.webp 959w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/201;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81714\" class=\"wp-image-81714 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky-300x201.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky-300x201.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky-768x513.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kinky.webp 959w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-81714\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kinky Friedman styled himself after popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. (JTA files)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As frontman for the flamboyant 1970s country group Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, he was notorious for satirical songs such as \u201cThey Don\u2019t Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore,\u201d a raucous sendup of racism, and \u201cGet Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed,\u201d which poked fun at feminism.<\/p>\n<p>He could also turn serious, with songs dealing with social issues such as abortion and commercialism. His 1973 song \u201cRide \u2019em Jewboy\u201d is a haunting elegy on the Holocaust, recorded by Willie Nelson and sung in concert by Bob Dylan. The lyrics transform cowboy cliches into a rumination on Hitler\u2019s victims:<\/p>\n<p>Now the smoke from camps a-rising<\/p>\n<p>See the helpless creatures on their way<\/p>\n<p>Hey, old pal, ain\u2019t it surprising<\/p>\n<p>How far you can go before you stay?<\/p>\n<p>The Jewboys broke up in the mid-1970s and Friedman spent much of the next decade in a haze of drugs. In the mid-1980s he cleaned up and began writing a series of successful, raunchy, comic mystery novels whose main character is himself. He wrote more than 20 books, all on a manual typewriter.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kinky Friedman - &quot;Ride &#039;Em Jewboy&quot; [Live from Austin, TX]\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uBewkqSdehQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>One reviewer, the actress and author Fannie Flagg, described his writing as \u201cRaymond Chandler on drugs, if Chandler had possessed a tremendous sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2006 he ran for governor of Texas, looking to unseat incumbent Republican Rick Perry in a bid that went from joking to serious. His campaign material included a 13-inch talking action figure and bumper stickers that read, \u201cMy governor is a Jewish cowboy.\u201d His official campaign slogan was &nbsp;\u201cWhy the hell not?\u201d He considered himself tough on immigration, pro-choice, anti-capital punishment and a proponent of alternative fuels.<\/p>\n<p>In time, his campaign gathered force as a serious quest to shake up Texas politics, break down traditional party machines and reach out to a dramatically disaffected electorate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the last election for governor, only 29% of eligible voters went to the polls,\u201d Friedman, known as \u201cthe Kinkster,\u201d told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that year. \u201cSeventy-one percent didn\u2019t vote \u2014 they didn\u2019t like the choice between paper and plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the end, Friedman placed fourth in the six-person race, receiving 12.6% of the vote.<\/p>\n<p>Born Richard Samet Friedman in Chicago in 1944, he moved with his parents to Texas as a baby and earned his nickname in college from his curly hair. His parents were educators who ran a summer camp for mainly Jewish children at Echo Hill Ranch, the 400-acre spread where Friedman would come to live in a small but rambling lodge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had services every Friday night, and Kinky would play the guitar,\u201d Ellen St. Clair, who spent four summers at Echo Hill, told JTA in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>The property is also home to the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, a home and adoption center for abused and abandoned dogs that Friedman helped found.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_81715\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81715\" class=\"wp-image-81715 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-1024x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-1536x853.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-2048x1138.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/569;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81715\" class=\"wp-image-81715 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-1024x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-1536x853.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/chinga-copy-2048x1138.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-81715\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nathan &#8220;Chinga&#8221; Chavin, right, and Kinky Friedman perform together in an undated photo. The two were frat brothers at the University of Texas. (Courtesy Brandi Chavin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in psychology. Friedman proudly recalled that during their time as members of the Jewish Tau Delta Phi fraternity he and a friend, Nathan \u201cChinga\u201d Chavin, tried to admit African-American students, an effort that was ultimately thwarted.<\/p>\n<p>After graduating in 1966, &nbsp;he served in the Peace Corps in Borneo. After returning from the Peace Corps, he formed Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, at a time when hybrid \u201ccountry rock\u201d bands \u2014 including The Band, the Eagles and Buffalo Springfield \u2014 were rising up the charts. The Jewboys drew a cult following \u2014 and occasional protests, as when the National Organization for Women awarded Friedman its \u201cMale Chauvinist Pig Award\u201d in 1973.<\/p>\n<p>In early 1976, he joined Dylan on the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour. Friedman claimed to have been the first \u201cfull-blooded\u201d Jew to take the stage at the Grand Ole Opry.<\/p>\n<p>Friedman would cite Mark Twain and the humorist Will Rogers as his heroes, and the inevitable comparisons were not far off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese days,\u201d he once said, \u201cthere are many people around the world who listen to the songs that made me infamous and read the books that made me respectable.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Kinky%20Friedman%2C%20singer%20and%20novelist%20who%20fronted%20The%20Texas%20Jewboys%2C%20dies%20at%2079\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":81714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7117,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81716,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81713\/revisions\/81716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}