In July 1979, Daisy Jones and The Six, a rock n roll band, were at the height of their success. Yet after a concert in the middle of the tour the band broke up, cancelling the rest of their dates. This book attempts to discover why that happened, taking us back to the days before the band had made it, when Daisy Jones and the band known as The Six were separate entities. Told more like an extended article or oral history, the book allows the main players to tell their own side of the story, while fleshing out their rise to fame.
When I first started reading I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, because of the format. The entire thing is interview-style, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to get engrossed enough through that. But I was wrong. I loved it, and it absolutely works. In fact I don’t think it could have been told in a more straight forward way. This allows the same event to be told from multiple points of view but not be repetitive, or separated so you can’t see how people have experienced the same events so differently sometimes. It adds a layer of humour too, when certain band members keep taking credit for things or exaggerating their own input, while others don’t even mention them. It really allows you to see the dynamics of the band.
As someone who loves Fleetwood Mac this especially appealed to me. I’ve watched the Behind the Music episodes and read articles about the infamous making of Rumours, and so this was kind of made for me. The author does such a good job at rounding out her cast of characters – of which there are many – but also keeping focus on the main two, Daisy and Billy. Their relationship as writing partners and friends/enemies/potential soul mates is fascinating and moving and though I have no musical ability to me everything rang true in terms of how they were presented as musicians.
If there was one slight downside it was the portrayal of Camila, who seemed to me a living saint. It does make the story more emotional I guess but I’m not sure such a person exists. Other than that I got to the end and would quite happily have read the whole thing over again, and I plan on reading more of the author’s work. Such a good book.
