Kinky Friedman

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Kinky Friedman's Bio: Richard "Kinky" Friedman is one of a very few serious musicians and authors whose life and work comes with a caution: This Material May Be Offensive to Some. Outrageous and outspoken, Friedman’s satirical country tunes have led to comparisons to the work of the late Frank Zappa of rock ‘n’ roll fame.

Friedman was born to Jewish parents in the town of Palestine, in Anderson County, Texas, and raised on the family ranch known as Rio Duckworth. His father was a university professor. Friedman founded his first band in the mid-1960s while studying psychology in an honors program at the University of Texas. At that early date he had yet to feel the full brunt of his politically incorrect impulses, and he named the band King Arthur & the Carrots. It was a surf-group-spoof ensemble, which seemed innocent and inoffensive, albeit goofy. The group recorded only one song, "Schwinn 24," and thereafter had little opportunity to offend the sensitivities of the listening public.

After graduating college, Friedman served in the United States Peace Corps in Borneo from 1966 to 1968, where his assignment as an agricultural extension worker involved shoveling excrement and other glamourless chores. Upon his return to the United-States he cast his few remaining inhibitions aside and established a new cowboy band called Kinky Friedman & His Texas Jewboys. The group consisted of singers with a potpourri of shock-schlock nicknames such as Big Nig, Little Jewford, Panama Red, Rainbow Colors, and Snakebite Jacobs. Friedman’s band worked its way to offbeat success with the help of a number of prominent musicians and producers, including Willie Nelson, Commander Cody, and Waylon Jennings. When the group recorded its debut album, Sold American, the record featured the respectable sounds of the late John Hartford and the less-than-respectable lyrics of Friedman. Such songs as "Ride ‘em Jewboy" offered a unique perspective for country music fans. When a track from the album appeared on the country music charts, the Jewboys were honored with an invitation to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.

After securing a recording session with ABC Records, Friedman released a self-titled album as a follow-up in 1974. This outrageous second album was characterized by songs such as "They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore." Sold American, meanwhile, earned Friedman the title of Male Chauvinist Pig of the Year in 1974 from the National Organization for Women. It was a rendition of the Friedman tune "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bedroom" that clinched the dubious honor for the tongue-in-cheek Friedman. He was later honored for the same song when, in 1992, Source listed it among the "Best Country Song Titles Ever."

Negative publicity notwithstanding, Friedman recorded a third album, Lasso from El Paso, in 1976. That album secured a stamp of approval from such respected musical gurus as Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, both of whom contributed to the album. During the mid-1970s, Friedman and his band toured with Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue. After the Jewboys disbanded in the late 1970s, Friedman eventually moved to New York City, where he occasionally played sessions at the Lone Star Café. In 1983 he recorded an album for Sunrise called Under the Double Ego; that recording marked the end of the musical performance phase of Friedman’s career. He devoted the remainder of the 1980s to acting and writing, having earlier made three movies—Prime Time (American Raspberries) and Record City in 1977 and Loose Shoes in 1980. In 1983 Friedman appeared in The Being, and in step with his shock-value persona, he appeared in the supporting role of a sportscaster in Tobe Hooper’s 1986 horror feature, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. TCM2, as the disturbing movie was known to many, was banned in Norway and left unrated in the United States. It was also banned in Australia, where a modified version was released with an R rating. … Read more