Jerry Irby
Musician · Texas
Best known for
Songwriter
Jerry Irby was a Texas country singer and songwriter whose 1945 honky-tonk lament “Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin” became a 1946 Top-5 country hit for Ernest Tubb on Decca and a parallel hit for Floyd Tillman, and has since entered the standard country and bluegrass repertoire.
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- Wrote “Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin” and cut the original Texas single in 1945.
- Ernest Tubb recorded the song for Decca on September 17, 1946; the single reached No. 5 country in December 1946.
- Floyd Tillman’s 1946 Columbia version also charted, giving the song dual hit recordings.
- The song has since been recorded by George Jones, Hank Williams Jr., the Flatlanders, Asleep at the Wheel, and many other country and bluegrass acts.