Then and Now
The Story Behind the Mask
Emerging from the rough and tumble
streets of Newport News in a section they called “The Bottom,”
Daniel Goldstone forged a path towards his dreams of being in the
music business like some of the stars he met in his youth—people
like Charlie McClendon, The Five Keys, “Baby” Lloyd Stallworth of
James Brown’s Fabulous Flames, The
Avalons, The Chateaus, and The Leaders. Then there were his friends
and associates like Little Joe & the Every Day People, the
Poindexter brothers and The Persuaders, Al Johnson and The Unifics,
and a guitar playing wizard and friend, David Williams.
Goldstone
would sing on the corner of 25th
Street and
Jefferson Avenue (Two-Five & J) like the rest of the top singers
of the area in that era, learning to blend and harmonize and carve
out their own unique styles, but he had plans to form his own groups
who would sing songs he wrote and produced himself. Starting as a
drummer and then moving to the vocals, first Goldstone was with a
group called The Collegians, and then he formed The Deceptions who
recorded records and toured the country. Later he did the same with
a group known as Royalty before forming the group Peace, Justice and
Equality before he went with Danny Gold & Co.
As time went on, Daniel Goldstone
opened record stores and worked as an independent record promoter for
many of the major and independent labels in the country, where he
found himself with some of the biggest names, legends, and pioneers
in the business (such as Joe Medlin & Leroy Little, Sr.),
including the artists behind some of the music he grew up listening
to and the creators behind some of the biggest acts in the country.
It was during this time that
Goldstone went solo for awhile as Danny Gold. He later teamed up
with one of his former guitarist and music director, A.B.A. Taft, and
recorded under the name of Danny Gold & Co. featuring A.B.A.
Taft, as well as a release under the name Capitol Nation.
But whether it was then as The
Collegians; The Deceptions; Peace, Justice & Equality; or Danny
Gold & Co.; or now as Danny Gold; Capitol Nation; or Danny Gold &
Co. featuring A.B.A. Taft, it has all been Daniel Goldstone Behind
the Mask.
