Jerry Irby

b. Gerald Irby, 20 October 1917, New Braunfels, Texas, USA, d. 2 December 1983. Irby was raised by his wealthy grandmother, a fact that contradicted his claim to have struggled ‘with just a cheap guitar and a few songs'. In 1933, he moved to Houston playing honky tonks, and in 1936 formed a duo with Ted Daffan. In 1938, they split when Daffan joined the Bar X Cowboys and Irby briefly fronted his Serenaders in Beaumont. In 1940, owing to grandmother's finances, he opened Jerry's Country Palace, but in June 1941, it closed and he became the vocalist with the Bar X Cowboys (Daffa...