Danny Ray, valet, emcee and ‘cape man’ for singer James Brown, dies at 85

Danny Ray was just out of the Army in 1961 and hanging out backstage at the Apollo, the Harlem theater known for decades as a center of Black entertainment. He was neither a singer nor a musician, but nonetheless he was looking for a career in show business.

Trim and dapper, he bore a resemblance to Sammy Davis Jr. and was willing to take any work he could find. His first job was as a valet for the Famous Flames, the backup group of soul singer James Brown.