Often called "The Chintzier" and sporting sideburns, a thick moustache and cowboy hat, Friedman earned a cult following his self-starring detective novels and for fronting his country music band the Texas Jewboys.
Friedman toured with Bob Dylan and sang with Willie Nelson, serenading devotees with tunes such as They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore and Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed.
Born in Chicago, Friedman — nicknamed Kinky for his curly hair — grew up in Texas on the family’s Echo Hill ranch. He inherited the property and ran a camp there for the children of parents killed while in the military.
He was a child chess prodigy and started playing music while at college in Austin.
After two years with the Peace Corps in Borneo, Friedman returned to the US and embarked on his music career with Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys — a controversial name he was determined to keep due to his father’s disapproval. What worked in the band’s favour was they were actually good.
Friedman was self-proclaimed as the first full-blooded Jew to take the stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville — a claim that may have been true. When his music career stalled in the late 1970s, he started writing crime novels featuring himself as a touring musician and crime solver. A big success, they introduced Friedman, and his music, to a new audience.
Friedman parlayed his prominence into a series of attempts to gain statewide political office, which no-one was sure were serious or not. He died on June 27, aged 79. — Agencies
