Daisy Jones and the Six

I never read the book for Daisy Jones & The Six so I had no expectations going in. I only had the trailers to go by and even after watching them I went back and forth about watching this. The reviews were all mostly great so I thought I'd give it a chance and I'm so glad I did. I loved every minute of this series and thought each episode got better and better. The chemistry between the cast is what makes this show go. The love triangle can get a little soapy at times but it still remains entertaining throughout the series. Like a lot of the reviews have already pointed out this band has a very Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac feel to them. Even though I wasn't born yet from everything I know I think the show portrayed the 70's well. I'm also a huge music fan of all genres and all era's and thought this represented music from the 70's well too. It's one of the greatest era's of music and this fits right in. If you're looking for a new show to binge then give this one a chance. You won't be disappointed.

This is the type of series that you can't fully appreciate unless you have seen it all. Keep that in mind when reading the negative comments. My wife and I watched all 10 episodes and we both enjoyed it as interesting fiction. We both were teenagers during the 1960s and we understand how rocky the road was for many groups getting together then staying together. Few of them, if any, had a smooth existence without difficult internal drama among band members. This roughly 8-hours of programming does a good job of portraying the highs and lows of a typical band. This is fiction but from what I have learned over the years, about how now-famous bands got together back in the 1960s and early 1970s, it seems very authentic.

In the very first episode we are told that the band, 'Daisy Jones and the Six', performed their last concert in Chicago in 1977. And that no one could have foreseen that. The middle episodes, two through nine, develop the characters and the progression of the band, through studio recording and road concerts. It is done in a style where each (now former) band member is interviewed on video some years after 1977. I'd estimate the mid 1990s. So most of the story is told in a type of flashback to earlier times.

First there are two brothers and a few friends from Pittsburgh who decide to form a band. They play a number of local gigs but are going nowhere, until someone suggests that they go west, to the Los Angeles area, the melting pot and hot spot for the formation of music groups. So they did, naively thinking that it would be straightforward. They quickly found out it wasn't.

A parallel story is that of Daisy, growing up in the Los Angeles area. She has always enjoyed music from a very young age, would sing along with recordings, but was never encouraged. So she struck it out alone when she turned 18. Episode three is devoted to how Daisy and the band "The Six" were able to meet for the first time, through a music producer, and make their first recording together.

The last episode, number ten, brings everything full circle and has a series of stories about each surviving member, mostly positive stories about how they were able to sort out their lives and achieve happiness. Riley Keough (about 33) and Sam Claflin (about 36) are each really good and authentic in their roles as Daisy and Billy. Although neither had been a "singer" before this production, each did their own singing and are as good as they needed to be for the era portrayed.

All in all a very successful Amazon Prime drama series. Elvis would be proud.

Four episodes in, I'm perplexed by the negative reviews (probably a bunchof Gen Z and Millens hooked on ancient fantasy nonsense). Yes, there's lots of smoking (and drinking and other things). That's what went on in the 70's. What we also have incredible chemistry between the characters and a glimpse into a culture that seemed only a dream for working class garage band kids growing up in the 70's, it's fascinating to see the music industry from the perspective of pre-computer musicians who only wanted to have fun and jam real music and showed (at least on stage and creatively) little interest in the goings on in the outside world. Daisy is a talented, yet free spirited loner wild child on a path to self destructive addiction; Billy is an intense and conflicted genius, as he tries to balance his family life with the RnR lifestyle. It's clear they can't live with, or without, each other. The entire band is somewhat of a disfunctional family, but they are family. It has a soap opera feel, emotions are expressed in song. Looking forward to the continuation of the series.

I do wish- i want to say idiots but maybe thats a tad too strong, reviewers who felt the need to review it after watching only one episode and getting bored or i made it to episode 3 and stopped it was lame etc would refrain from leaving a review and a mark. Do they think their opinion is that important to the rest of the world that we should take heed of it despite not having seen more than a fraction of it? By the way ive just left a review for my local michelin star restaurant. I had a £35 fillet steak but i left it and walked out after eating 2 chips cos they werent salty enough. 3/10.

Just do us all a favour and dont say anything. I see people say sam claflin hasnt enough charisma to be cast as a lead singer in a band after watching the first episode when he is in a college garage band learning his trade? And by episode 6 he has plenty of charisma on stage. But they werent to know that. A bit too trigger happy on the reviews people. Stop ruining it for everyone who wants a realistic review. I turned it off after 15 seconds because one of the guitars strung with medium strings had too thick a G string.

Rant over. Ive just watched episode 7 which was the poorest one so far mainly because it focussed on daisy who for me is becoming a bit of a selfish spoilt brat. Now if that is the intention of the whole production then they are doing a good job. But it was the weakest episode for me. With the first episode a close second. It started to get going episodes 4 5 and 6 so anyone thinking of giving up prematurely watch it till at least then. (or dont and have a good moan on here). The scoring on makes me laugh. It isnt a 1 or a 2 or a 3 or a 4. Just like it isnt a 10 or a 9. Ive given it 8 whereas i should have waited for the last 3 episodes before marking it. I do realise some people have agendas and some are a bit odd. Its not bad tv and there is certainly some chemistry building up between billy and daisy. I havent read the book. My daughter has and she loves the series and would mark it 10 so far. In fact shes watched it twice, and im not joking.

If you're a fan you don't have to read anything to know Daisy Jones and The Six borrowed quite a bit from Fleetwood Mac. And I find myself unable to review this series without reference to them. I think that's fair because it would impossible to make nostalgic music dramas without being heavily influenced by those (Rock Pop) bands which dominated that era.

It's basically a fictional version of that documentary about the making of (F Mac album) 'Rumours', including emotionally charged compositions and lyrical battles between band members, who are all to some extent entangled in the intensity. It's the classic love/hate story that produces some very fine music. If you've been in bands - especially on the road - you'll know how all this could happen.

The reason that's more than ok is because The Six do actually have the great songs. Maybe not as enduringly massive as F-Mac's but still, you can believe that they would have had success.

Riley Keogh is fabulous and more than equivalent to represent Stevie Nicks' dulcet tones. Billy is not as edgy as Lindsay Buckingham but that's OK. They even have the classy English girl on keyboards, although Suki Waterhouse's character Karen isn't the singer/songwriter that Christine McVie was. A less memorable bassist (sorry, John). And let's hear it for the ubiquitous fun-loving drummer!

It was funny, dramatic, authentic and a good story - and there were sufficient loose ends, as there are in life. Another IMDb user reviewer wrote about how the events may not be quite as we see them, and that's really worth considering.

Highly recommended for Pop music fans and hopeless romantics.