AUSTIN, Texas — 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 mentioned.
“He died peacefully. He smoked a cigar, went to bed and never woke up,” mentioned 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 were the only two people with tuxedos and cowboys hats. Two Texans gravitating toward each other,” Perkins mentioned. “He was the last free person on earth … He had an irreverence about him. He was a fearless writer.”
Usually referred to as “The Kinkster” and sporting sideburns, a thick mustache and cowboy hat, Friedman earned a cult following and popularity as a provocateur all through his profession throughout musical and literary genres.
Within the Seventies, his satirical nation band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys wrote songs with titles equivalent to “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed.” Friedman joined a part of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976.
By the Eighties, Friedman was writing crime novels that usually 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 unbiased 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 mentioned on the marketing campaign launch. “I’m calling for the unconditional surrender of Rick Perry.”
Some noticed the marketing campaign as one other Friedman joke, however he insisted it was severe. His platform referred to as for legalizing medical marijuana, boosting public training spending by means of on line casino playing and supported same-sex marriage. Marketing campaign slogans included “How Hard Could It Be?” and “He ain’t Kinky, he’s my Governor.”
“Humor is what I use to attack the windmills of politics as usual,” Friedman mentioned.
Perry gained reelection in 2006, and Friedman completed final. He didn’t hand over 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 youngsters of fogeys killed serving within the navy.
Funeral providers had been pending, Perkins mentioned.
