Kinky Friedman, a songwriter and author with ties to Austin, Texas, as well as Nashville, explains the inspiration for songs including “Ride ’Em Jewboy” and “Sold American” in this unconventional interview and performance, held June 3, 2018, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Alongside multiple off-color jokes and comments, Friedman shares his early career experiences in Nashville, where he wrote “Ride ’Em Jewboy.” He cites it as a favorite song of Nelson Mandela and sings an acoustic version.

He also elaborates on his friendship with Tompall Glaser, who headed Glaser Sound Studios, also known as Hillbilly Central, and features prominently in the Museum’s major exhibition “Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s” (May 25, 2018 – June 5, 2022).

Explaining that he spent two years in Borneo serving in the Peace Corps, Friedman notes, “I found that I wrote songs like ‘Sold American’ about America when I was over there, and when I came back to this country, I wrote ‘Wild Man from Borneo.’ It might be the further you are away from the subject of your song, the more lucid the writing gets. I know one thing—if anybody here wants to be a songwriter, step one, you’ve got to be miserable. Happiness is the enemy. I fight it at every turn so I can be an artist.” He adds that Glen Campbell went on to record “Sold American.”

Friedman also reads from his book, “Heroes of a Texas Childhood,” and expounds about his technique of “trying to write between the lines.” Talking about upcoming projects, Friedman tells the crowd that he’s working on a book about Bob Dylan with one of Dylan’s childhood friends, Louie Kemp.

Although he has developed a reputation as a writer of mystery novels, Friedman gives insight about why he felt compelled to write songs again, thanks to a phone call with Country Music Hall of Fame member Willie Nelson.

He closes the program by singing two of his new songs: “Jesus in Pajamas” and “Autographs in the Rain (Song to Willie).”

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