Passion is...it's fire. And fire is great, man. But we're made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive.
Daisy Jones and the Six
written by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I read the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and thought that would be the first and only book to give me the feeling of hearing the best gossip of the year, but it turns out, it has a rival. And that rival has the very same creator. Taylor Jenkins Reid has a talent for making a fictional tell-all that feel more real and riveting than any non-fiction gossip I’ve encountered, and Daisy Jones and the Six is no exception.
Daisy Jones and the Six is formatted like a documentary about the rise and fall of a world-famous rock band in the 1970’s. The story behind the music is both more and less rock and roll than their actual songs, and neither Daisy Jones or the Six got to where they were easily or without sacrifices.
Daisy Jones wasn’t always a member of the Six. Daisy Jones got her start on the Sunset Strip. As a stunningly attractive woman, many male musicians dubbed her as their muse, but Daisy, with her raw talent and passion for song writing, refused to be someone else’s inspiration. She wanted to record her own songs. Daisy knows exactly what she wants and who she is which is a barefooted, bangle wearing beauty that sometimes makes less-than-optimal decisions and takes more pills than she or anyone could count.
Meanwhile Billy Dunne and his brother, Graham, are taking gigs and spreading word about their band, the Dunne Brothers. After picking up four more bandmates, they needed a new name, so they became the Six, with Billy as the de facto leader. Billy wrote the Six’s songs, which were almost all inspired by the love of his life Camille. But the band and Billy’s personal life hits a hurdle when the Six gains traction and starts touring. Billy finds that he’s not the kind of guy that can only have one hit, and to continue his music career, Billy has to learn how to be a rockstar without the trappings.
When Daisy Jones and the Six eventually combine forces, the band skyrockets to fame. Billy and Daisy’s on-stage chemistry and charisma enraptures the nation, but what made this band split at the height of their fame?
Decades later you hear directly from Billy Dunne, Daisy Jones, Camille Dunn, the rest of the band, their producer, journalists, photographers, and other key and periphery players in this story. The effect is a comprehensive story told from almost every angle. Sometimes events are remembered differently depending on who you ask, but as it’s sometimes said, the truth can be found somewhere in the middle.
I have probably read this book six or seven times now, and it is one of the most consistently entertaining books I’ve read, with the most fleshed out characters I’ve met. I highly recommend the audio book if you decide to give Daisy Jones and the Six a try. Each character has a different voice actor, and the voice actors add so much emotion to their performances that you’ll need to remind yourself that the book is fiction. Now get to reading the best fictional Behind-the-Music-style, tell-all book you’ve ever read. The quicker you do that, the quicker you can read it all again.