Daisy Jones and the Six tells the history of a rock and roll band from its beginnings in the 1970s to its rise to the top in the 1980s. The band loosely resembles Fleetwood Mac and the sound is often eerily reminiscent of them.
Daisy Jones and the Six is structured like a documentary. Interviews with band members and people around them reconstruct the 20 year old story of the principal band members with all their problems and all their glory.
The original band, created by the Dunne brothers, included 5 players. They were leader Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), Karen (Suki Waterhouse), Graham Dunne (Will Harrison), Warren Rojas (Sebastian Chacon), and Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse). They thought it was clever to call their 5 person band The Six.
Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) began as a solo act – a singer/songwriter. She sometimes performed with her best friend Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be).
A music producer named Teddy (Tom Wright) put Daisy in front of The Six singing with Billy and there was magic in the sound. Everything about their songwriting, their performing, their personal relationship, was a battle. But they made great music together. They were both attracted to and repelled by each other.
They started with nothing, playing small clubs. By the time they were finished they had huge album sales and were filling stadiums and gigantic venues with adoring fans. Timothy Olyphant played their manager.
Both Daisy and Billy had problems with drugs and alcohol. Throughout the series 10 episodes, we see them struggle with their addictions. Daisy almost died of an overdose. They would sober up, be clear, and then relapse.
Billy was married to Camila (Camila Morrone) and had a child. Their relationship was pretty strong, but Daisy was a constant problem for them.
One of the best episodes in the series was about Simone. She took a bus to New York City to be with her girlfriend Bernie (Ayesha Harris). Simone’s story was counterpoint to the white rock band story. She became a huge disco star who operated in mostly queer Black spaces where she and Bernie could be open about their lives.
The music was good. Riley Keough is good, but she’s no Stevie Nicks. However the costumes, the tambourine, and the mannerisms Daisy used on stage were certainly meant to make you think of Stevie Nicks.
At the height of their fame, the band broke up. That happened in episode 10, which is where we learned who the documentary filmmaker interviewing everyone was. Episode 10 was my favorite episode, brilliantly directed by Nzingha Stewart. It included all the pain and anger and brokenness that led to the band’s breakup, but also the warmth and love that brought all the interviews together into a final, finished moment.
If you haven’t been watching Daisy Jones and the Six as Prime Video released it in chunks, you can binge the whole series now. It’s well written, based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The only thing I missed from the novel was the description of Daisy’s raw, unschooled talent with music. It was all instinctive genius with her.
If you feel any nostalgia for the rock music of the 70s and 80s, this series will be a hit with you. I lived through that time and keep getting older day by day. Now my motto is, “I’ve given up sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Don’t make me give up coffee.” So grab a cup of coffee and sit down for a revisit with some sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
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