Lost & Found: The Famous Living Room Tape

The seeds of Kinky Friedman’s longtime career as a Texas-based singer/songwriter, detective novelist, and political candidate can be found on a 1970 demo finally released in 2013 as Lost & Found: The Famous Living Room Tape. Whatever these bare-bones recordings lack in polish is more than made up for with droll wit and outlaw camaraderie. In time-capsule fashion, the songs satirize the era's country music clichés and give insight into Friedman’s twisted state of mind. Tunes like “High on Jesus” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed” combine topical humor with poker-faced delivery to hilarious effect. “The Ballad of Charles Whitman” (chronicling an infamous mass shooting in Austin) is a prime example of Friedman’s lyrical skill, as well as his sense of the outrageous. Even more impressive are subtler works like “Ride ‘Em Jewboy” (a trenchant commentary on Jewish history) and “Sold American” (more angst-filled than mirthful in its portrayal of a broken-down country singer). Forty-plus years later, these recordings by Friedman and his crew still have the power to make you wince, laugh, and think, often simultaneously.