Busy Kinky takes time out for music

It's time to take the barbed Richard "Kinky" Friedman seriously.

Yes, the Texas Jewish country singer who shared the politically incorrect sentiments of "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed" and "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore" with the world; the author of 20-plus silly yet devious mystery novels like The Mile High Club; the man who, in 2006, ran for governor of the Lone Star State as an independent with the slogan "How Hard Could It Be?" isn't kidding anymore. He's running for governor again as a Democrat. Why now?

"Well, I can't afford to be a Republican," Friedman declares from his ranch, proving his sense of humor is intact. "Plus, there hasn't been an independent win since Sam Houston in any of our statewide races in 160 years, so running as such in the first place might not have been the best move."

Friedman is not a career politician, as current Texas Gov. Rick Perry ("Isn't it time he took the lampshade off his head?") is. Kinky's two new books, Heroes of a Texas Childhood and Kinky's Celebrity Pet Files, prove it.

Besides, Friedman, 65, has always admired the traditional Democratic Party. "Not the one we have today, but what made the party great, when it really stood for the people." It might sound corny, but Friedman's slogan for the 2010 race is "Power to the People" - that old '60s saying. "It's never been truer," Friedman says. "Our power has been hijacked by the politicians." And in Kinky's estimation, being a politician is a giant step down from being a musician. For him, being a musician means he might blurt out the truth - something you get in Friedman's wordiest songs, like "Sold American."

His newest books, too, portray a tender side to his writing, something his detective novels did only in their denouement. He tried to be cynical when writing Celebrity Pet Files, but it turned out to be what he calls "an interesting backstage pass" into the lives of people who hold their animals in such high regard - as Johnny Cash did his pig, Brian Wilson his dogs, and Friedman his armadillo.

As for his Heroes book, it's an elegant ruminative work, inspired by columnist Jim Hightower's notion that you can always tell who a man truly is by who he counts among his heroes. "These aren't people who were lucky, cheerleaders or prom king, but rather those who dealt with the tragedies in their lives and overcame them for the common good."

While Kinky, sadly, isn't as prolific a musician and songwriter as he is an author, he does say he's enjoying playing his classics, such as "Wild Man From Borneo," more than ever.

"The songs are tighter than they've ever been, even if I'm not. Then, again, I'm older than I've ever been."