Corky and the Kinkster Folk It Up
Songs, stories, and special guests are in store on Monday night at 8 at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor when Corky Laing, best known for his time as co-founder and drummer in the rock ’n’ roll group Mountain, and Kinky Friedman, a satirical country music artist, author, and would-be public servant, present “Folked Up Rock.”
Both artists have a long and colorful history of blending music and storytelling. Mr. Laing, who lives in Greenport, performed the one-man shows “Heavy Metal Humor” and “The Best Seat in the House” at Bay Street in 2013. Mr. Friedman, whom the website allmusic.com called “outrageous and irreverent but nearly always thought-provoking,” has written several mystery novels and has toured with Bob Dylan. His upcoming album, “The Loneliest Man I Ever Met,” is due in October and features Willie Nelson on a cover of Mr. Nelson’s “Bloody Mary Morning.”
The artists played together last Thursday at a reunion party for New York’s Lone Star Cafe, where they were regular performers, held at the B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York’s Times Square.
“I have been working on and off with Kinky since he was working in the ’80s at the Lone Star,” Mr. Laing said. “We got along famously. I’m a huge fan of Kinky’s. He’s quite a character. And Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, they all love him, because he’s a good old boy. He’s his own man, if you know what I’m saying. He’s a wonderful guy, but he comes off miserable — which I love.”
Indeed, press materials for “Folked Up Rock” referred to a perhaps unconven tional relationship between the two: “They have a long-lasting professional relationship based on ‘trust and understanding.’ Kinky doesn’t trust Corky and Corky doesn’t understand Kinky.”
“Corky is an old pal of mine,” Mr. Friedman said in a rare serious moment. “Anyway, the show looks like it’s going to be a real financial pleasure for the Kinkster. It will be a good one. I don’t think I’ve been in Sag Harbor for many years, but why not go to where the rich people live?”
Mr. Friedman is in the midst of 35 performances in as many days, and a tour in support of “The Loneliest Man I Ever Met” will begin on Oct. 9 in Ashland, Va. “This is Willie’s idea, too,” he said of his rigorous touring schedule. “If you keep playing and never take a break, you’ll get really raw and pure and the shows will get better and better. And you’ll hear Jesus and Hank Williams and people like that talking to you.”
He promised to read an excerpt from one of his books at Bay Street and said that one of the evening’s special guests will be Chinga Chavin, a longtime friend and collaborator known for his 1976 comedy album “Country Porn” and the song “Asshole From El Paso,” a parody of Merle Haggard’s “Okie From Muskogee.”
“He’s also the person who named me Kinky, so he blessed me and cursed me at the same time,” Mr. Friedman said. “With a name like Kinky, you almost have to be a success, or it’s a social embarrassment.” On the other hand, he said, “If you fail at something long enough, you become a legend. That’s what’s happened to me — I’m 70 fucking years old. Seventy, though I read at a 72-year-old level.”
Mr. Friedman, who won more than a half-million votes in his unsuccessful bid for governor of Texas in 2006, added that, while “The Loneliest Man I Ever Met” will not yet be available, the artists’ books, CDs, and T-shirts will be for sale at Bay Street. “And I will sign anything but bad legislation,” he said.
“The point,” Mr. Laing said, “is that a lot of people that love Kinky are unique because he’s not a commercial artist. He is like Mort Sahl and those guys; he comes from that school. Very eclectic.”
Tickets for “Folked Up Rock” featuring Kinky Friedman and Corky Laing are $59, $65, and $69 and are available by calling the Bay Street Theater box office at 725-9500 or at baystreet.org.