James Ray

James Ray occupies a sorrowful place among the overlooked figures of R&B, a talented vocalist whose name is tied almost exclusively to the enduring single “If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody.” His career ended abruptly from a drug overdose long before it could develop. Born James Ray Raymond in Washington, D.C., during 1941, the slight-framed singer made his first appearance on the Gallant roster in 1959 via “Make Her Mine,” issued under the name Little Jimmy Ray in tribute to his striking resemblance to the celebrated Little Willie John. That release went nowhere, and the two years that followed remain almost entirely undocumented. By 1961 he was living without shelter, performing on sidewalks for coins and sleeping on the rooftop of a D.C. apartment house, where aspiring composer Rudy Clark encountered him. Clark brought Ray to the attention of producer Gerry Granahan, founder of Caprice Records and the man previously responsible for the Angels and Janie Grant. Granahan placed the singer under contract at once, bought him fresh clothing, and secured independent living quarters. In October 1961 the Clark-written “If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody” appeared on Caprice, reaching the pop Top 40 and the R&B Top Ten. The single surfaced in Britain the next year, where it became a regular selection in the Beatles’ early club performances; Freddie & the Dreamers later scored a major hit with their own rendition. While preparing his debut album for the label, Ray issued the follow-up “Itty Bitty Pieces” in spring 1962, which achieved modest chart success. Its successor, “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You,” another Clark composition, attracted scant airplay yet impressed George Harrison, who revived it for a solo number-one single in 1988. By then Ray had already died; most accounts place the fatal overdose in 1963, although precise details are missing and the Social Security Death Index lists no record. Clark, meanwhile, continued to score lasting successes, among them “It’s in His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)” and “Good Lovin’.”