AUSTIN, Texas – Singer, songwriter, satirist and novelist Kinky Friedman, who fronted the alt-country band Texas Jewboys, toured with Bob Dylan, sang with Willie Nelson and entered politics with campaigns for Texas governor and other state offices , passed away. .
Friedman, 79, died Thursday at his family’s Texas ranch near San Antonio, his close friend Kent Perkins told The Associated Press. Friedman had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for several years, Perkins said.
“He died peacefully. He would smoke a cigar, go to bed and never wake up,” said Perkins, who was working as an actor when he met Friedman at a party 50 years ago, when they were both signed to Columbia albums and movie contracts.
“We were the only two people in tuxedos and cowboy hats. Two Texans gravitating toward each other,” Perkins said. “He was the last free person on earth. … There was a certain irreverence about him. He was a fearless writer.”
Often called “The Kinkster” and sporting sideburns, a bushy mustache, and a cowboy hat, Friedman gained a cult following and a reputation as a provocateur throughout his career across all musical and literary genres.
In the 1970s, his satirical country band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys wrote songs with titles like “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed.” Friedman joined part of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976.
In the 1980s, Friedman wrote crime novels that often featured a version of himself, and he wrote a column for Texas Monthly magazine in the 2000s.
Friedman’s political career brought his brand of irreverence to the serious world of public policy. In 2006, Friedman ran for governor as an independent in a race with five candidates, including Republican incumbent Rick Perry. Friedman launched his campaign against the backdrop of the Alamo.
“We are gypsies on a pirate ship, headed for the Governor’s Mansion,” Friedman said at the campaign launch. “I am calling for the unconditional surrender of Rick Perry.”
Some saw the campaign as another joke by Friedman, but he insisted he was serious. His platform called for legalizing medical marijuana, increasing public education spending through casino gambling and supporting same-sex marriage. Campaign slogans included “How hard could it be?” and “He’s not a pervert, he’s my governor.”
“Humor is what I use to turn the windmills of politics as usual,” Friedman said.
Perry was re-elected in 2006, with Friedman finishing last. He did not abandon politics, however, and ran unsuccessfully for state agriculture commissioner as a Democrat in 2010 and 2014.
Richard Samet Friedman was born in Chicago and raised in Texas. The family’s Echo Hill Ranch, where Friedman died, ran a camp for children whose parents died in military service.
Funeral services were pending, Perkins said.
