In the early 70s I was in college in Philadelphia, and my brother was still in high school in Dallas. He called to tell me Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys were going to be touring my way. "You know who that is, don't you? Remember Echo Hill Ranch? Tom and Mim Friedman? He's their son. I think he was one of our counselors." I couldn't remember any of the counselors' names, but the timing would be about right. So I dragged a friend down to the old Main Point to see them. They all had that 70s Texas Kozmic Kowboy look - skinny with inventive facial hair, tight jeans, cowboy hats and boots - and Echo Hill Ranch belt buckles! The belt buckles gave me an instant twang of nostalgia; my mom had thrown mine out when I wasn't looking, which was hard to forgive. (The best part was actually the belt, which had my name tooled in the leather.)
After the show I went backstage and told the first guy I saw I had gone to Echo Hill. He called back, "Hey, Kinky, it's another camper!" Apparently thse belt buckles were signalling to the cognocenti all over the USA. Kinky came out holding his ever-present cigar, put it in his mouth, shook my hand, said something unintelligible around his cigar, and drifted away again.
Being a Kinky fan made me an exotic on the East Coast, but in Austin he is just one of many local eccentrics the town is proud of. More Austin nostalgia here.
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