Reading Rock-N-Roll

Reading Rock-N-Roll

Bruce Von Stiers

I review a lot of different media, primarily music. Occasionally I'll write a book review. Rarely do I write a review that covers both types of media. This is one of those times.

I saw a blurb about a novel titled Daisy Jones & The Six. The book was being promoted as a tale about a ‘70's rock band and their lead singer. I thought, cool, I'll check it out as I grew up listening to ‘70's rock bands.

Daisy Jones & The Six was written by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Her previous novels include The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Maybe In Another Life.

The author lays down the foundation for the characters fairly quickly. The reader meets Daisy first. She is beautiful, has famous parents and is a budding musical phenomenon. Reading about Daisy brought to mind Linda Ronstadt or possibly Stevie Nicks.

Billy Dunne is a musician and vocalist who puts together a band with his brother Graham and a few other people. The other members of the band were the drummer, Warren Rhodes, the rhythm guitar player Chuck Williams and bass player Pete Loving. Later, Chuck would be called up in the military draft and was replaced by Eddie Loving. Along the way, the band picked up a female keyboard player known as Karen Karen.

The novel is written as a series of interviews with each member of the band and people associated with them. In fact, I almost felt like I was reading an extended Rolling Stone interview article. The format worked well for telling the story. Daisy Jones & The Six has provides the reader with a lot of behind the scenes material. It's kind of like a Behind The Music bit mixed in with in-depth written interviews.

The novel takes the reader from the inception of the band, The Six, to and beyond all of the pitfalls and highlights they experience. Along the way, the reader learns more about Daisy and her potential to rise to stardom. When a producer puts Daisy together with The Six, music history is about to be made.

The novel is more than just a tale of the rise of a fictionalized rock band. It delves into the personal drama, the heartaches, the victories and betrayals that come as part of being in a band. While some flourish, others fizzle. Life that could be so simple ends up being very complicated. Especially once Daisy and Billy team up to write and sing songs together. The sparks that fly between Billy and Daisy complicate life for not just them, but everyone around them.

Daisy Jones & The Six has romance, heartache and a whole lot of rock-n-roll. The author did a great job of making the characters seem real. Although this was just a fictional band, you could almost think you knew them and their music. If you want a good rock-n-roll story that has roller coaster relationship elements, then this is a book worth checking out.

Two things to add. The novel is an offering in Reece Witherspoon's Reese's Book Club. Reece also picked up the TV rights for the book for a possible mini-series or web series.

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