A very good friend of mine, like me, a former skinhead and unlike me, a man of great musical skill used to play with a Swedish country band and he usually knows what I like and sometimes comes with a few pointers, like "you might like this".
As he has been talking of Kinky Friedman for ages, I was glad when I found this DVD at the brilliant FolkÅRock record store in Malmö.
Before I had watched this DVD, I had actually never heard his music, but I did know that Kinky is jewish, a loudmouth, highly intelligent and of some musical skill. In other words, a darling of the alt country left wing environment.
Now, though it is true I don't like everything my buddy advices me to listen to, I don't share his love for Faron Young, as for an example, he is guilty of making me check out Townes van Zandt, for which I'm ever grateful. Kinky, I'm sad to say, is another addition to the list of performers I find overrated. Yes, I said it, it's time to start roasting sacred cows.
The music is ok, but nothing special. This show was recorded in the 70's and the appearance of the band is not the only thing flowerchild-hippie-longhair-wanker thing about them, parts of the music is more Woodstock than Muskogee. True, there's a few decent tunes on this disc, mainly the more rock & roll/R&B sounding stuff, but I can't say I particularly like the music.
The thing which really disturbs me with Kinky, though, is not his music, but his lyrics. Some of the tunes try to be funny, but aren't exactly above the level of oi! music's most overrated act, Splodge and some of it tries to be political, but only ends up as a load of crap.
To be honest, I don't see how his lyrics are "alternative" in any way. Now, there are obvious sides to American culture that aren't very nice, but I'm a Swede and it's not up to me to slander the USA, but Kinky is American and if an American wants to criticize his country, it should be his right to do so, but also his duty to present serious criticism. On this, Kinky fails, big time.
Kinky manages to put his childish humor lyrics together with "criticism" of American culture in a way that it neither becomes funny nor serious criticism. He most of all comes across as a middle class intellectual who wants a better society, but ends up blaming the working class instead of the bosses and big government. I don't buy that bullcrap. If you're not working class, got musical and intelligence gifts and want a better world, you ought to make yourself a servant of the people and sing like Woody Guthrie, instead of making fun of the very people that should drive the change.
Nope, Friedman, you don't fool me.
Some of the tunes are musically alright, so I'm not gonna slaughter this DVD totally, but it's actually that bad in my ears that it only gets 34,7% in rate of satisfaction.
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