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 other government offices, is dead .
Friedman, 79, died Thursday at his family’s Texas ranch near San Antonio, close friend Kent Perkins told the Associated Press. Friedman had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for years, Perkins said.
“He died peacefully. He smoked a cigar, went to bed and never woke up,” says Perkins, who was working as an actor when he met Friedman at a party 50 years ago, when both had signed record and film deals with Columbia.
“We were the only two people wearing tuxedos and cowboy hats. Two Texans pulling together,” Perkins said. “He was the last free person on earth… He had an irreverence about him. He was a fearless writer.”
Often called “The Kinkster” and sporting sideburns, a thick mustache and cowboy hat, Friedman gained a cult following and reputation as a provocateur in various musical and literary genres throughout his career.
In the 1970s, his satirical country band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys wrote songs with titles such as “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed.” Friedman participated in Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976.
In the 1980s, Friedman wrote crime novels that often featured versions of himself, and in the 2000s he wrote a column for Texas Monthly magazine.
Friedman’s foray into politics brought his brand of irreverence into the serious world of public policy. In 2006, Friedman ran for governor as an independent candidate in a five-way race that also included incumbent Republican Rick Perry. Friedman launched his campaign against the backdrop of the Alamo.
“We are gypsies on a pirate ship and we are heading for the governor’s mansion,” Friedman said at the campaign launch. “I call for the unconditional surrender of Rick Perry.”
Some saw the campaign as another Friedman joke, but he insisted it was serious. His platform called for legalizing medical marijuana, boosting government spending on education through casino gambling and supporting gay marriage. Campaign slogans included “How hard can it be?” and “He’s not Kinky, he’s my governor.”
“Humour is what I use to attack the windmills of politics as usual,” Friedman said.
Perry won re-election in 2006 and Friedman finished last. However, he did not give up politics 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 of parents who died while serving in the military.
Funeral services were pending, Perkins said.