Beautifully done, Garth. You quadrupled what I knew about him in this single work of journalism. I met Kinky Friedman circa 1972 when he performed at Max's Kansas City, when I was a waiter there. Often the wait-staff got to hang out a bit, if the stars allowed it, with the many top-flight artists appearing upstairs at Max's, but Friedman wasn't as engaging and forthcoming -- as you point out -- as some other artists I met at the same time -- like Iggy Pop and Bob Marley, for instance, who seemed unaffected by their fame and genius and engaged folks they encountered as equals. Your article profiles the singer marvelously. I think he played Max's two or three days and I was a bit uncomfortable with his brazen use of the phrase "Jew boy" -- my tender lefty ears did not permit such excesses.
Thanks Em, always a pleasure to read your observations. I didn't write it but Kinky struck me as one of those comedians who likes to say all kinds of stuff on stage and plays for laughs but, off stage, is very serious, not someone who is naturally funny. Which is possibly why he never got more famous - the comedian who couldn't make people laugh when off stage. He certainly liked to play the reactionary card - Jewboy, antifeminist (he described the women who did the stage invasion as "lesbians" - like that's an insult - and his enthusiasm for smoking - but he was certainly a unique character who wrote a handful of strong songs. I hope you are working on a memoir of your life as a young dude, the stories you have to tell!
Beautifully done, Garth. You quadrupled what I knew about him in this single work of journalism. I met Kinky Friedman circa 1972 when he performed at Max's Kansas City, when I was a waiter there. Often the wait-staff got to hang out a bit, if the stars allowed it, with the many top-flight artists appearing upstairs at Max's, but Friedman wasn't as engaging and forthcoming -- as you point out -- as some other artists I met at the same time -- like Iggy Pop and Bob Marley, for instance, who seemed unaffected by their fame and genius and engaged folks they encountered as equals. Your article profiles the singer marvelously. I think he played Max's two or three days and I was a bit uncomfortable with his brazen use of the phrase "Jew boy" -- my tender lefty ears did not permit such excesses.
Thanks Em, always a pleasure to read your observations. I didn't write it but Kinky struck me as one of those comedians who likes to say all kinds of stuff on stage and plays for laughs but, off stage, is very serious, not someone who is naturally funny. Which is possibly why he never got more famous - the comedian who couldn't make people laugh when off stage. He certainly liked to play the reactionary card - Jewboy, antifeminist (he described the women who did the stage invasion as "lesbians" - like that's an insult - and his enthusiasm for smoking - but he was certainly a unique character who wrote a handful of strong songs. I hope you are working on a memoir of your life as a young dude, the stories you have to tell!