A highly imaginative and emotive story of the rise and fall
of a 1970’s rock band and its members
The Six, is an up-and-coming rock band, led by the brooding and handsome Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, Billy’s girlfriend Camilla finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. When Camilla finds him in a comprising position, he heads to rehab and swears his love for Camilla forever. Daisy is a girl coming-of-age in LA in the late 1960’s. By the time she’s 20 both her voice and carefree beauty are getting noticed. Daisy is demanding and more than anything she wants to sing her own music and wear what she wants to wear. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer who realizes that the key to supercharge success for both of them, is to put the two together. What happens next is the stuff of legends.
This is an oral history from band members, family and friends piecing together a portrait of how this rock band DAISEY AND THE SIX rose to fame in the 1970’s and what lead to their abrupt breakup in Chicago, July 12, 1979.
“I am not going to sit around sweating my ass off just so men can feel more comfortable. It’s not my responsibility to not turn them on. It’s their responsibility to not be an asshole.”
DAISEY JONES AND THE SIX is a riveting and unforgettable novel about one of the biggest bands in the 1970s. What makes it so uniquely special is that it is written in an oral history format about a band that doesn’t exist. But you’ll certainly feel like they do! You can even hear their music in your head. it sounds a little like Fleetwood Mac, and Daisy reminds you a little of Stevie Nicks. The characters, their recollections, and dialog make this story come alive.
The professional and personal love-hate relationship between the bra-less, drug-infused Daisy and the denim-wearing reformed-alcoholic Billy was intense, to say the least. When Billy and Daisy were on the same sheet of music, it was hot and electrifying. The band felt it, the audience felt it and I felt it.
The only thing Daisy loved as much as writing her own music and singing rock and roll were the pills she carried in her pocket everywhere she went. She popped them like their were candy, in between snorting lines of coke and guzzling champagne. Scary!
In a word, this book is imaginative, highly imaginative! Taylor Jenkins Reid not only wrote a compelling and emotive story of a fictional band’s meteoric rise in an oral history format, but also wrote meaningful music lyrics, staged revealing photo shoots, and magnificently captured the drug and feminist vibe of the times. What could she possibly do next? I loved her previous novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but she has risen the bar even further with this one.
I listened to the Audible version of this book which featured a full cast of narrators. It was a fabulous performance by all and I highly recommend it. It’s raw, it’s real, its rock and roll, baby!
“But at some point, you have to recognize that you have no control over anybody and you have to step back and be ready to catch them when they fall and that's all you can do. It feels like throwing yourself to sea. Or, maybe not that. Maybe it's more like throwing someone you love out to sea and then praying they float on their own, knowing they might well drown and you'll have to watch.”
Publisher Penguin Random House Audio.
Narrated Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Pablo Schreiber and more
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
