If you have been following Iona’s Song of the Week you will know that Part One of this year’s playlist/seletions ended last week, and in addition, we have just ‘celbrated’ the Summer Solstice. In 2024 the solstice fell on June 20th, and marked the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it was also the longest day of the year. The solstice occurs when the Earth’s axis is tilted at its maximum angle of 23.5 degrees towards the sun, resulting in the sun being at its highest point in the sky.
On a less positive note, it also marks the descent into winter as our daylight hours reduce by about 2 minutes every day now, and by the Winter Solstice in late December, we will have about nine hours less daylight! However, on a less pessimistic note, today also marks the start of Iona’s Song of the Week, Part Two!
Now, and as sometimes happens, I had my song chosen early in the week because we were going to see a Seattle band called Massy Ferguson (not to be confused with the tractor mob, Massey Ferguson!). And as lady luck would have it, they opened their set with my chosen song. Woo woo!
But, hold the bus! We woke to the sad news the following day, the 27th of June, to hear that the Kinkster had stepped on his own personal rainbow. Yes, the irreplaceable Richard Samet ‘Kinky’ Friedman, an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, columnist and epic cigar smoker had died aged 79.
I don’t really recall when or how I first encountered the Kinkster, but I have a collection of his books that I read (the first being in 1993 so probably 30 odd years ago) and I got to see him live in Glasgow twice.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1944 to two Russian Jewish immagrants who later moved to Austin Texas where he attended the University of Texas. It was there that he was given the nickname ‘Kinky’ because of his curly hair!
His first band, King Arthur & the Carrots released a single in 1966 and he then went on to form his second band in 1973 called Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys and released many songs, including the unforgettable Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed, Ride ‘em Jewboy and this week’s choice They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore!
The Kinkster had a profound impact on my life, and I still listen to many of his albums to this day, and have really enjoyed his witty writting and the absurd charcaters he created in his novels. Two recurring ideas from his books stay with me to this day, the first was his daily “cup ‘o Java” amd the second was “jumping into the rain box”. Now two things remain for me to do. Firstly I need to introduce Iona’s Song of the Week, and secondly, I have to buy a copy of his last book “Steppin’ on a Rainbow”!
Maybe not the best version, but you get to see Kinky and the Texas Jewboys at work!
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