Helpful Score: 1
I really was excited to read this book having been a touring musician for fifteen years and loving this era of music. Unfortunately, Daisy Jones and the Six really left me flat. It didn't effectively capture the chaos or excitement of the 70's rock and roll world. More importantly, it didn't serve up the emotional electricity that comes from making music with a group of people and having people respond to it. There are so many amazing non-fiction accounts and memoirs that are so much more fulfilling/exciting/depressing than this author could muster.
Helpful Score: 1
I had to read this to see if it was worthy of all the hype ... and it is. The talent of Taylor Jenkins Reid to create the entire world of this novel is amazing; it's so detailed, extensive, and realistic, it's easy to forget it's completely fictional.
I can't imagine experiencing this novel any way other than via audiobook. It was fairly simple to track the large cast of characters due to the distinctive voices of each narrator, and I'm sure I would have gotten hopelessly confused, or bored, if I had read a print copy of the book.
It seems musicians' lives are prominent in pop culture right now, as evidenced by movies about Freddie Mercury, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Miles Davis, and many others, and this book fits well into this trend. I'm so eager to see where Ms. Reid will take her readers next as I'll be along for the ride.
I can't imagine experiencing this novel any way other than via audiobook. It was fairly simple to track the large cast of characters due to the distinctive voices of each narrator, and I'm sure I would have gotten hopelessly confused, or bored, if I had read a print copy of the book.
It seems musicians' lives are prominent in pop culture right now, as evidenced by movies about Freddie Mercury, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Miles Davis, and many others, and this book fits well into this trend. I'm so eager to see where Ms. Reid will take her readers next as I'll be along for the ride.
This is the first book I have read by this author, and I am definitely looking forward to reading more books by this writer.Â
The Dunne Brothers is a 1970s band that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is comprised of the following:
1) Billy Dunne - lead singer
2) Graham Dunne - lead guitar
3) Warren Rhodes - drummer
4) Pete Loving - bassistÂ
5) Eddie Loving - rhythm guitarÂ
The Dunne Brothers saw Karen Karen, keyboardist, performing in Baltimore and asked her to join the group.Â
Rod Reyes, a tour manager, hears them play and suggests they move to LA because all his real contacts are out there. So the band moves to California and signs a record contract with Runner Records. All seven of them (including Billy's girlfriend, Camilla) rent a house in Topanga Hills.Â
After their first self-titled album is released, the band, now known as The Six, leaves on a thirty city tour. The night before they leave, Camilla tells Billy she is seven weeks pregnant. While on the tour, Billy succumbs to the temptations of alcohol, drugs, and sex. Regrettably, Camilla surprises him with a visit and discovers him having sex with another woman. On the day Camilla goes into labor Teddy Price, the producer, pulls Billy out of the tour and tells him he has two choices - he can either be a good husband and father or go into rehab.Â
Billy enters rehab, and the rest of the tour is canceled. Following sixty days in rehab, Billy is released, and he begins writing songs again. Once The Six record all ten songs for the album, Rich Palentino, CEO of Runner Records, did not think any of the songs would be a chart topper. Thus, Teddy wanted to make "Honeycomb" a duet hence, Daisy Jones enters the scene. In the beginning, Billy and Daisy are as compatible as oil and water.Â
Once Honeycomb is released, it debuts at number 86 but quickly climbs the charts. As a result, Daisy Jones is booked as the opening act for The Six's world-tour. Unfortunately, Billy has a relapse to drinking and drug use, and Daisy decides to go to rehab and leave the band. Furthermore, the rest of the band members are exhausted from the constant touring. Finally, Rod is forced to cancel the remaining tour dates.Â
After I finished this book, I could have sworn I read a non-fiction memoir of a famous 70s band.Â
The Dunne Brothers is a 1970s band that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is comprised of the following:
1) Billy Dunne - lead singer
2) Graham Dunne - lead guitar
3) Warren Rhodes - drummer
4) Pete Loving - bassistÂ
5) Eddie Loving - rhythm guitarÂ
The Dunne Brothers saw Karen Karen, keyboardist, performing in Baltimore and asked her to join the group.Â
Rod Reyes, a tour manager, hears them play and suggests they move to LA because all his real contacts are out there. So the band moves to California and signs a record contract with Runner Records. All seven of them (including Billy's girlfriend, Camilla) rent a house in Topanga Hills.Â
After their first self-titled album is released, the band, now known as The Six, leaves on a thirty city tour. The night before they leave, Camilla tells Billy she is seven weeks pregnant. While on the tour, Billy succumbs to the temptations of alcohol, drugs, and sex. Regrettably, Camilla surprises him with a visit and discovers him having sex with another woman. On the day Camilla goes into labor Teddy Price, the producer, pulls Billy out of the tour and tells him he has two choices - he can either be a good husband and father or go into rehab.Â
Billy enters rehab, and the rest of the tour is canceled. Following sixty days in rehab, Billy is released, and he begins writing songs again. Once The Six record all ten songs for the album, Rich Palentino, CEO of Runner Records, did not think any of the songs would be a chart topper. Thus, Teddy wanted to make "Honeycomb" a duet hence, Daisy Jones enters the scene. In the beginning, Billy and Daisy are as compatible as oil and water.Â
Once Honeycomb is released, it debuts at number 86 but quickly climbs the charts. As a result, Daisy Jones is booked as the opening act for The Six's world-tour. Unfortunately, Billy has a relapse to drinking and drug use, and Daisy decides to go to rehab and leave the band. Furthermore, the rest of the band members are exhausted from the constant touring. Finally, Rod is forced to cancel the remaining tour dates.Â
After I finished this book, I could have sworn I read a non-fiction memoir of a famous 70s band.Â
My 5 star rating is for the audiobook version. They had a cast, not just one narrator. I don't think I would have done the voices justice for each character in my head by reading the words from the page. It is a story about sex, drugs and rock & roll, clashing egos and artistic collaboration. I highly recommend the audio version of this book.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. This book is loosely based on Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks 1970's rock group and break up in July 1979. I enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Taylor Jenkins Reid. The characters were well-drawn and unforgettable. If you love rock music, you will enjoy this book.
Great book. Story of how singer Daisy Jones joined the band The Six and their rise to fame. Until a show in Chicago in 1979 where the band broke apart. The story of their break was never told until now. The way this books is written is genius - so creative and made the story flow well. It is written as an oral history. As if someone is interviewing all the band members, their friends and family, music critics etc several years later as they tell their story. Despite the sometimes cryptic interview notes the story is still told well and with lots of emotion. This is typical 1970s rock band on the surface - sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But there is also lots of emotion and internal struggle and it is told well. For me the story dragged just a tiny bit in the middle, but in addition to loving the oral history/interview style, I loved the ending when you learned who the interviewer was, why the band broke up, and how they all turned out in the end.
