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Kinky Friedman, Provocative Musician, Author and One-Time Politician, Dies at 79
Kinky Friedman, the provocative country musician, novelist and one-time politician, has died. He was 79.
“Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & friends,” read a post on his social media. The self-proclaimed “governor of the heart of Texas” released a robust number of albums starting with 1973’s “Sold American,” often considered his foundational record, and in addition to touring with Bob Dylan on his “Rolling Thunder Revue,” he became the “first full-blooded Jew” to appear at the Grand Ole Opry. An interest in music led him to form King Arthur & the Carrots followed by Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, which he described as a “country band with a social conscience, a demented love child of Lenny Bruce and Bob Wills.” The group stirred controversy with songs like “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Ride ‘Em Jewboy.”
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