The Lone Star State needs a singing governor. Louisiana had one in Jimmy Davis ("You Are My Sunshine") and anything those yahoos can do, Texas can top! The closest Texas came to having a singing governor was W. Lee O'Daniel. This huckster bought airtime on KFJZ in Fort Worth when there were no competing radio signals. Pappy O'Daniel, as he styled himself, hired a quartet of hillbilly singers and dubbed them the "Light Crust Doughboys." O'Daniel worked for Burrus Mills and Elevator Company: purveyors of Light Crust Flour. One of the Doughboys was an fiddle player named Bob Wills. Burrus Mills grew tired of O'Daniel's ego and fired him in 1935. The irrepressible O'Daniel went into the flour business himself (The Hillbilly Flour Company) and organized a new band: the Hillbilly Boys. By now, Bob Wills and his former Doughboys had gone off to bigger and better things. O'Daniel's new band had some fine musicians in its own right: Leon Huff and Kitty Williamson. In 1938, Pappy launched a campaign for governor of Texas and opened every campaign appearance with the Hillbilly Boys singing "Beautiful Texas." O'Daniel later finessed his way into the United States Senate. All of the Hillbilly Boys held State jobs and they were fired when they refused to go to Washington DC with Pappy. I bought a Kinky Friedman CD out of curiosity because I only heard the Kinkster sing briefly on "Imus in the Morning" last month. Give "From One Good American To Another" a try. If this is a (fair & balanced) shameless hustle, so be it.
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Since I've launched my spiritual quest to resurrect the Independent spirit of Sam Houston and Teddy Roosevelt and make that Lone Star shine again, I've been amazed at the number of you gypsies boarding my pirate ship. With a good tailwind, this ship should be at the governor's mansion by next November.
If we're going survive this cruise, the first step is getting my name on the ballot. The major parties have, of course, made this a very difficult task. But this is just the first port of call on the voyage, nothing we can't do if we all pitch in and start right away. Y'all need to do the Kinkster a favor and click here to download the Kinky Kit and start signing up your friends and family:
Kinky Kit.
This puppy has already set sail. We'll be in Austin on April 20th for "A Spiritual Walk For Independence" across the UT campus. For more details on that event click here: Spiritual Walk.
Please, y'all, spread the Kinky gospel. We're just getting started.
Thank you,
Kinky Friedman
Paid For By The Kinky Friedman For Governor Campaign — John McCall, Treasurer, P.O. Box 293910, Kerrville, TX 78029
Copyright © 2005 Richard (Kinky) Friedman
