The Jewboy from Texas: Method in Madness
The first thing that introduced me to Kinky Friedman was a DVD entitled "Proud To Be An A**hole From Al Paso". (The ** part is not my invention; I give a damn to decency anyhow. This was how the DVD was titled, perhaps after being censored).
It was an interesting viewing. In it, I saw how his father was appaled by the name Kinky chose for his band, which was "Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys". I also saw Willie Nelson for the first time, and listened/watched his explaining how Kinky's song, "Ride 'em Jewboy" caused a lot of ripples. I also liked Kinky's comparison of his life with Jesus Christ: they both were Jewish, none had a job, a wife or a home, and all both of them did was to go talk to people and irritate them. It was really very witty and irreverant at the same time. (Note: certain people, who heard me using this phrase will now know that it was not my original idea, but borrowed from Kinky.).
It was an interesting viewing. In it, I saw how his father was appaled by the name Kinky chose for his band, which was "Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys". I also saw Willie Nelson for the first time, and listened/watched his explaining how Kinky's song, "Ride 'em Jewboy" caused a lot of ripples. I also liked Kinky's comparison of his life with Jesus Christ: they both were Jewish, none had a job, a wife or a home, and all both of them did was to go talk to people and irritate them. It was really very witty and irreverant at the same time. (Note: certain people, who heard me using this phrase will now know that it was not my original idea, but borrowed from Kinky.).
Richard Kinky 'Big Dick' Friedman was always willing to hit people to drive a point home, and he almost always chose the controversial path. His Song, "Asshole from Al Paso" caused furor because, in it, he said, "The wetbacks still get paid 20 cents an hour.". However, Kinky correctly points out that the people who were outraged by Kinky's using the word "wetback" have no problem being aware of the fact that the "wetbacks" are really paid only 20 cents a day.
"Who else could have written a country song about the Holocaust ("Ride 'Em Jewboy"), or about a human being kept in a cage as part of a circus "Wild Man From Borneo"]? Outrageous and irreverent but nearly always thought-provoking, Kinky Friedman wrote and performed satirical country songs during the 1970s and has been hailed as the Frank Zappa of country music."
Not only did Kinky choose a provocative name for his band, but his band members chose for themselves colorful names too: Little Jewford, Big Nig, Panama Red, Rainbow Colors, and Snakebite Jacobs."
Willie Nelson sang Kinky's "Ride 'em Jewboy" in the tribute album to Kinky entitled "Pearls in the Snow". Perhaps poor Willie smoked so much pot that he forgot that unlike Kinky he was not a Jewboy himself. However, as Kinky puts it:
"I've seen five people cry listening to Willie sing 'Ride 'Em Jewboy,' all of them non-Jews. He sings it like a cowboy song, with no ax to grind, no agenda," (The song is about the Holocaust and Jewish persecution.) And Kinky says that "one review said the album was great except for the Tom Waits cut. Another review said that song ("Highway Cafe") made them cry."
"I've seen five people cry listening to Willie sing 'Ride 'Em Jewboy,' all of them non-Jews. He sings it like a cowboy song, with no ax to grind, no agenda," (The song is about the Holocaust and Jewish persecution.) And Kinky says that "one review said the album was great except for the Tom Waits cut. Another review said that song ("Highway Cafe") made them cry."
Almost all of Kinky's songs were relevant and yet irreverent and provocative (which, of course, I support whole-heartedly; else I won't be writing this bullshit here); Biscuits in the oven and the buns in the bed, They don't make jews like Jesus anymore, Ride Them Jewboy, Asshole from Al Paso.. each caused trouble to someone on other. Other titles include, The Ballad of Charles Whitman, the guy (Kinky's roommate(?) at the University) who went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas at Austin.
As soneone noted: The Jewboys' finest moments included the touching They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore and the feminist-unfriendly Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed ("You'd better occupy the kitchen/ Liberate the sink"). At a performance in Buffalo, a rendition of the latter caused local feminists to storm the stage and commence destroying the group's equipment. A police escort was required to get the group out of town safely.
Or, as Kinky puts in: "The Jewboys just irritated Americans from '73 to '75 - I mean every stripe, from the Jewish Defense League to women in New York," he says. "But we were simply a country band with a social conscience. I mean, I wrote the first pro-choice country and western song."
The following is a beautiful write-up by another person, which I put here completely.
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The following is a beautiful write-up by another person, which I put here completely.
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