Daisy Jones & The Six: the greatest band that never existed

Colliding egos. Drink. Lines of coke. Band members who end up in bed together. The familiar ingredients of a classic rock ‘n’ roll story are present in Daisy Jones & The Six, a grand drama series about the rise and fall of a mythical band in the 1970s. Oh, and of course there’s music. Hit-sensitive rock music with which the American band Daisy Jones & The Six briefly conquered the world. Until the group disappeared from the stage for good after a legendary performance in 1977. Why did they break up? Was there a really terrible fight? It sounds like such a juicy mystery that music lovers will love and about which presenter and pop connoisseur Leo Blokhuis could enthusiastically tell in the TV program Top 2000 a gogo. Only Daisy Jones & The Six never existed.

The band was created by writer Taylor Jenkins Reid, who wrote down the fictional history in a book in the form of a so-called ‘oral history’. The Los Angeles music scene in the 70’s in general, and the always feuding band Fleetwood Mac in particular, were sources of inspiration for Reid. Her book became a bestseller in 2019 and actress Reese Witherspoon’s production company quickly secured the rights for the film adaptation. After a long corona delay, the result, a ten-part drama series, can be seen from March 3 on Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video.

In the series, the characters look back on their heyday twenty years after the band’s breakup. They do this through ‘interviews’ for a documentary, although the series itself is not mockumentary (fake documentary). The scenes set in the 1970s are very cinematic and stylishly designed, with an eye for detail. The band is making a name for itself on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, where clubs like Whiskey a Go Go and Filthy McNasty’s could make or break bands’ dreams.

Legendary album

In the series, the fictional band comes to life and is the band’s music also heard. For the series, musician Blake Mills wrote 25 songs, 11 of which were the album Aurora (this album is a bit of a hit Rumors before Fleetwood Mac). Quite a task: the songs were made for the series, but should feel like they could have been big hits. To achieve this, Mills enlisted the writing help of renowned artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Marcus Mumford and Jackson Browne. Of course, the series also uses well-known songs from that time: the opening titles are accompanied by ‘Dancing Barefoot’ by Patti Smith.

Actress Riley Keough, granddaughter of Elvis Presley and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, plays the role of the talented and troubled frontwoman Daisy Jones. In the series, Daisy is linked to the band The Six by a producer. Together with frontman Billy Dunne (played by Sam Claflin), she writes songs and takes the new band to a higher level. Separately they are good as songwriters and performers, together they are great. But on a personal level, Daisy and Billy don’t like each other: they constantly clash over lyrics and the group’s direction. The other band members also each have their own struggles. And Billy’s wife has to deal with a rock star partner.

The making process of Daisy Jones & The Six did not go without a hitch. Just before the recordings were to start, the corona pandemic threw a spanner in the works and everything was halted for a year and a half. But that may have been a blessing in disguise, Claflin said. “It gave me the opportunity to really learn to play the guitar so that I didn’t have to play air guitar,” says the actor during a group interview with, among others, NRC. All actors, each without musical experience, received music lessons and simulated the dynamics of a real band in preparation. It also gave the players time to get to know each other well. Claflin: “Without that break, we wouldn’t have known the music and each other very well.”

Real lifestyle

Certain elements return with a rock story. How did he try to keep it from becoming predictable? “Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll was a real lifestyle at the time, you can’t escape that. But my character has other obsessions. The love for music and for his family are leading for him.” Actress Camila Morrone plays Camila, Billy’s wife. She is not in the band and mainly stays at home when the band is at work. Other clichés lurk in such a character: the nagging housewife who can’t deal with the success of her rock star husband. “I didn’t want her to be some sort of victim, or someone who wasn’t empowered is. I wanted her to be equal. I don’t like it when women are pigeonholed. She guards the peace in the story for a while. Until that is no longer possible.”

Ultimately, it is Keough who has the key role of the series as Daisy Jones. Daisy is largely based on Stevie Nicks, the singer of Fleetwood Mac who, together with her former love partner Lindsey Buckingham, was part of the band’s greatest success period. The turbulent relationship between Buckingham and Nicks was one of the aspects that made Fleetwood Mac a decades-long soap opera as well. The fact that the members of Fleetwood Mac wrote about each other in their songs gave the music an exciting layer. This dynamic also exists between the two Daisy Jones bandleaders.

The series also has similarities with films where fictional rock bands play a role. Mainly Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000) will often be mentioned because of the comparable era and the role of a fictional band. Also That Thing You Do!, Tom Hanks’ directorial debut, feels close at times. Both in Daisy Jones like in the Hanks movie, there is a nice scene about the euphoria that arises when you first hear your song in public space. But that playfulness usually wears off quickly when creative and business expectations rise.

Many successful musicians struggle with this, often with the implosion of friendships and relationships as a result. Music can no longer heal all wounds, but it can ease the pain a bit, as this series also shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guF2W5HqqQI