Taylor Jenkins Reid
Summary from SuperSummary
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The first page is an author’s note not from Taylor Jenkins Reid, but rather from the fictional author of this fictional biography. The Author’s Note establishes the goal of the interviews that follow in Chapters 1 to 12 and announces, “This book serves as the first and only time members of the band have commented on their history together.” The author’s note indicates the complexity of the narrative about to unfold, stating, “The truth often lies, unclaimed, in the middle.”
1.The Groupie Daisy Jones (1965–1972). Daisy Jones was born in 1951 to a British painter and a French model. Daisy grows into a beautiful and lonely young girl, eager for connection. Her desire to be seen is unacknowledged as, according to the author of a biography about Daisy, “there’s no one in her life who is truly interested in who she is, especially not her parents. And it really breaks her. But it is also how she grows up to become an icon. We love broken, beautiful people” (8). Around 1965, Daisy begins sneaking out of the house to the Sunset Strip, where her looks and ability to charm beyond her years get her into bars and clubs with musicians at age 14. Through partying, Daisy meets many men whom she has sex with and parties with. None of them stay around as viable romantic partners, but they use Daisy as a muse. Daisy is smart, artistic, and tough, but she floats around from man to man in the intoxicating world of music and drugs. Daisy reflects on her past of relying on men, saying, “I was drawn to him mainly because he was drawn to me. I wanted someone to single me out as something special. I was just so desperate to hold someone’s interest” (10). Daisy meets Simone, who becomes her only real friend. Simone is a disco star who takes Daisy in and ensures that she finishes high school. When Simone is dropped by her producer and must move out and wait tables, Daisy moves back in with her parents at age 17. Daisy is resolved to make something of herself instead of acting as other men’s inspiration and groupie. She declares, “I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse. I am not a muse. I am the somebody” (16).
2. The Rise of the Six (1966–1972). Billy and Graham Dunne are brothers from Pennsylvania who fall in love with music as young boys after their father leaves. They begin learning to play musical instruments and writing their own songs, eventually forming a band called the Dunne Brothers. They grow their band with like-minded and talented musicians: the bassist Pete Loving and the rhythm guitarist Chuck Williams. At first, the band plays mostly dive bars. One night, they finally get a gig playing a wedding, where the brothers, in Billy’s words, “notice this fifty-something guy dancing with this twenty-something girl and I thought, Does this guy know what a creep he looks like? And then I realize it’s my dad” (22). Their father doesn’t seem to recognize his sons, and his lack of recognition adds to the scar of his leaving 10 years prior. “It messes with you, when your own father doesn’t care about you enough to say hello […] It was a lesson in what not to be” (23). As upset as Billy and Graham are, Billy meets Camila, who is working as a cocktail waitress at the bar, and falls in love. On December 1, 1969, the U.S. Selective Service System conducts a lottery for the 1970 Vietnam War draft. All the band members but Chuck are spared, and Chuck is killed not six months later in Cambodia. Eddie Loving, Pete’s younger brother, replaced Chuck in the band. In 1970, the Dunne Brothers impress the lead singer of the band the Winters, and they are invited to play as the Winters’ opening act on tour. The Dunne Brothers are inspired by Karen Karen (real name Karen Sirko), the Winters’ keyboardist, and when they are finished with the tour, they take Karen with them. Karen leaves the Winters because “I was sick of everyone in the band trying to sleep with me. I wanted to just be a musician” (27). Now that the band is much larger than Billy and Graham, the original Dunne Brothers, Karen calls for a new name. She helps the band book a replacement gig for the Winters at a music festival, where the name “The Six” catches on. The Six begin playing gigs in New York, where they meet music manager Rod Reyes, who convinces them to move out to Los Angeles. The band is hypnotized by LA, and they are signed to Runner Records by music producer Teddy Price. After a brief break-up with Billy, Camila moves to LA to support Billy’s new career. As the success of the band grows, so do Billy’s partying habits. Rod says, “Billy would get so messed up after shows that I’d have to wake him up the next afternoon by slapping him across the face, he was that far gone” (35).
3. It Girl (1972–1974). Daisy pours herself into her creative outlet. Although she has no musical training, she writes hundreds of songs on her own. A musician boyfriend brings her to perform on stage with him, and she mesmerizes the crowd with her natural, gravelly voice. She’s a rocker socialite, “a girl that hadn’t ever released a single piece of work. No album, no single. But she was in the magazines in photos with rock stars. Everybody loved her” (45), according to Simone. After hearing Daisy perform, men keep offering their services as a manager, and Daisy finds them controlling, with an agenda. She finally signs to a record label under the management of Hank Allen because “he was the least smarmy. He was the one that I could tolerate the most” (45). When the label doesn’t let her sing her own songs, Daisy tries to get out of the contract but is unable to and turns to “dexies to get through the day, reds to get through the night. Champagne to wash it all down” (48).
4. Debut (1973–1975). After months of working hard on their first album, The Six set off on their first tour. Teddy and Billy become closer as they work on mixing and perfecting the album together. Billy is struck by Teddy’s insight, and Teddy is inspired by the music, calling it “ineffable. If I could define it, I wouldn’t have any use for it” (55). The night they’re set to leave, Camila reveals that she is pregnant, and she and Billy get married that same night. Billy is torn about his feelings about becoming a father due to his past with his own father. The idea of fatherhood shakes Billy up. Graham says, “This word that we equated with deadbeat, asshole, alcoholic. Now it described Billy, too. He was supposed to find a way to make that word fit onto him” (62). Billy is so shaken by his impending fatherhood that he throws himself into the rock star life, with more alcohol, more drugs, and more women. Billy, at first surprised by his own indiscretions, comes to realize that “you possess the very dangerous information that you can break the rule and the world won’t instantly come to an end” (66). Billy is caught in the act of cheating by Camila, and Camila gives Billy the deadline of their daughter’s birth to clean up his act, determined to make sure their family will ultimately stay together. Billy sinks even deeper into drug use and discovers the drug that all his friends and managers fear the most: heroin. When Camila gives birth to Julia, Teddy forces Billy out of the tour and to the hospital, but Billy can’t get himself to go inside and meet his new daughter. Billy enters rehab in 1974, and The Six cancel the rest of their tour dates. The band goes on a break while Billy spends 60 days in rehab, where he reflects on and rethinks his drug use. He commits to being sober, and to “Imagining myself as a man my daughter would feel lucky to have” (75). Billy confronts his fear that he will be a bad father and finally meets Julia.
5. First (1974–1975). Daisy is still refusing to attend recording sessions for her album, putting her in breach of contract. Simone has a career revival and is touring R&B clubs throughout Europe. Without Simone’s rational attitude, Daisy digs her heels deeper into her fight with Runner Records. Teddy Price intervenes, and under his guidance Daisy realizes the importance of playing by some rules to earn the respect that will allow her music to be produced later—a lesson she needed to learn because “I was so used to being given things that I didn’t know how important it is for your soul to earn them” (81). Daisy releases her first album, and although the album isn’t incredibly original, Daisy establishes herself as a musical force to watch.
6. Seven Eight Nine (1975–1976). Ready to start recording again, The Six begin the album SevenEightNine, but the record producers are unsure there’s a hit song. The tone is different from the expected rock ’n’ roll album as Billy is writing songs about family in his commitment to sobriety. To spice up the album, Teddy suggests using Daisy Jones for a duet due to her talent and notoriety. When Daisy shows up, not only is everyone taken aback by her beauty, but she also upsets Billy by putting her own spin on the song. The song, “Honeycomb,” is about Billy’s solid marriage, but Daisy sings the statements as questions that express doubt. Frustrated, Billy ends the recording session. He doesn’t realize it, but everyone else does: Daisy’s interpretation of the song unveils the truth behind Billy’s relationship, a truth he is trying to hide from. The truth, says Karen, is that “Billy was writing songs trying to tell himself he had got it all under control, that decades out he’ll still have his sobriety and his wife and his family” (91). Billy doesn’t like Daisy at first; she is used to getting what she wants, and so is he. Eddie describes Billy’s attitude as “in such denial of what a bulldozer he was to the rest of us” (93). The band is worried that the duet is a pop song more than a rock song, but they accept Daisy. Billy avoids Daisy whenever he can, frustrated by her talent and attitude. Karen appreciates Daisy’s presence around the band. While Karen has spent much of her life in music playing the man’s game, Daisy acts as if she simply doesn’t care. The band is focused on achieving success, but Daisy seems to be in the studio for the sake of the art itself, eager to, in her own words, “make something interesting and original and cool” (94). The duet is released, and its success makes The Six more mainstream, and therefore more commercially successful. The album SevenEightNine is thematically more romantic but still has a rock ’n’ roll sound. “Honeycomb” is the real hit of the album, a fact that makes it impossible for the band to ignore Daisy Jones and her influence.
7. The Numbers Tour (1976–1977). The album SevenEightNine is released with enough success for The Six to continue performing. Daisy has returned to her life of partying, but now she is also sleeping with her manager, Hank. Although Daisy had intended to launch her music career free of the influence of men who sleep with her, “to be blunt, I was drunk or high a lot of the time back then and it’s a bit hazy. I don’t even think I was attracted to Hank or even liked him all that much” (100). One night, Daisy and Hank go to a music venue, where they see The Six perform. The band members notice Daisy’s presence and invite her onstage to sing “Honeycomb.” While Daisy and Billy have not gotten along in person, everyone notices their intense chemistry. They still have differing views on how “Honeycomb” should be performed, but even so, “the way Billy would watch her as she sang…The way she’d watch him…It was intense” (101), says Karen. The connection between Daisy and Billy makes the song even better live, and the spectators know they’re watching something thrilling. After the success of “Honeycomb,” Runner Records sends The Six on tour, with Daisy Jones as their opening act. While Billy is not happy with the decision, he resigns himself to it and focuses instead on his family. Camila joins the band for the first few cities of the tour, but because she is pregnant again (this time with twins), she cannot always be on the road with Billy. Camila is a calming and supportive presence for Billy, who is going on his first sober tour. Daisy and The Six have an incredible first night performing; as Billy recounts it, “I could feel my microphone vibrating as they screamed and stomped their feet and I thought, Holy shit, we’re rock stars” (106). When Camila leaves, Billy must make one conscientious decision after another not to relapse. Before the band is set to tour Europe, Billy is offered an opportunity for The Six to extend their American tour after the European leg. He rejects the opportunity without speaking to anybody in the band, a move that highlights a difficult reality for The Six: The Six can’t perform without Billy, their star, but they also are bound by what their star wants. Daisy has grown tired of Hank, whom she senses is becoming the controlling manager she feared. She continues to write her own music and is determined to make a second album of her songs, but Hank shuts her down and keeps her high. Karen notices Daisy’s reliance on mysterious pills she keeps in her pocket and consumes without counting, but Daisy pretends it is easy for her to quit. Daisy’s supply line to the drugs is Hank, but Daisy fires him, and he physically threatens Daisy. Billy watches the aftermath of the violent encounter and, for the first time, tentatively offers his help to Daisy. Daisy begins to see how much other people can see about her life that she cannot, and she “didn’t realize just how much of a wall Billy put up around himself when he was near me until that moment, when suddenly there was no wall” (114-15). When Hank leaves, he brings Daisy’s back-up band with him, leaving Daisy with no one to perform her music on the night when a reporter from Rolling Stone magazine is in attendance. Rod sends Eddie out on stage with Daisy to perform acoustic renditions of her album, and although their dynamic is awkward because they have not rehearsed, Daisy is moved by her experience on stage. Backstage, Billy is transfixed by the performance, and just as Daisy is finishing her set with Eddie, Billy goes on stage to perform “Honeycomb.” Their performance together is, again, intense. Karen watches from backstage as Eddie and Daisy “each seemed like they thought the other one was the only person in the room” (121). The band performs well for the reporter from Rolling Stone, but Eddie is getting more aggressive in his resentment of Billy’s bossiness, while Karen and Graham are hiding a newly blossomed relationship. Jonah Berg, of Rolling Stone, interviews the band after the show. Billy speaks with him for a while but strikes up a conversation with Daisy on the way back to the hotel to give the others a chance to talk with Jonah. Daisy invites Billy to continue the conversation inside, but Billy says no because of the temptation of Daisy’s drugs. Daisy misinterprets this rejection as a rejection of her hitting on him, which was not her intention. Billy goes to bed, as do the other band members, while Daisy seethes with humiliation. Daisy was happy to finally be getting along with Billy and “had thought for a moment. Jonah’s article for Rolling Stone magazine features Daisy Jones with the band The Six, arguing that The Six should incorporate Daisy as a permanent member to go from being good to being truly amazing. While some members of the band, such as Graham and Warren, are grateful for their newfound fame and success, Billy is angry that Daisy has become such a large part of The Six’s story. After some deliberation and discussion, Billy comes around to the idea of doing an album with Daisy. While discussions go on, Camila gives birth to Susana and Maria, Graham and Karen continue their secret relationship, and Daisy dives even deeper into drug and alcohol abuse. Billy writes a new song in honor of Camila, called “Aurora.” The song moves Camila, and she knows that even though her husband feels triggered by Daisy, he needs Daisy on “Aurora” to give the song more depth. Billy finally accepts the idea that Daisy makes his songs better, realizing, “Before we even got back into the studio, I was writing for Daisy” (144). Back in the studio, tensions between Daisy and Billy resurface. Daisy is adamant that her own songs be included on the next album, and she tries to empower the other members of The Six to advocate for their own musical interpretations of Billy’s songs. They deliberate a new name to include Daisy, but the question of her permanence in the group is up for debate. Teddy helps them settle on the name Daisy Jones & The Six, and the chapter ends in compromise.
8. Aurora: 1977–1978. The Six come together again in 1977 to record an album, and Teddy puts Daisy and Billy in charge of writing in his guest house. Daisy and Billy bicker over their songs: Daisy is bored that all of Billy’s songs are about Camila, and Billy is annoyed that all of Daisy’s songs are about drugs. They decide to scrap all the songs except for “Aurora” and write together from scratch. The band begins to record the songs Billy and Daisy write, and Billy tries to be more patient and open with their interpretations of his songs. The band members are excited to be a bigger part of the process, and Graham recognizes, “By having us all involved, we were evolving” (171). Eddie continues to be more vocal about his anger with Billy and his overall frustration with being a member of The Six, so puts out quiet calls for guitarists. While the tension with Eddie continues, Daisy pushes her drug abuse to a new limit. Instead of showing up for recording one night, Daisy invites some friends over, and the gathering at her house turns into a drug-filled party. Rod and Billy go to her house to see if she is okay, but Billy leaves quickly as he realizes how intoxicated he is by the seduction of the drugs. Billy then writes a song called “Impossible Woman,” which everyone believes is about Daisy. Billy welcomes Daisy to sing her whole heart into the song, creating more musical magic. As the band continues to record, it becomes evident to producers that this is not just The Six’s best album yet, but an album that could potentially define the era of rock ’n’ roll. While writing songs, Daisy and Billy almost kiss, but Billy draws back, and Daisy is dejected. Daisy writes an epic song about the encounter, and the band loves it, while Billy knows it’s about him. The tension between Billy and Daisy is visible in the cover art for the album. The photographer can see an attraction between the two lead artists even though they’re trying very hard to ignore one another. The photograph captures their tension perfectly—he notes “it was masculine and feminine at the same time” (228)—and the marketing of the album is as provocative as the content. While Billy and the producers mix the album, the rest of the band goes on break. Daisy goes to Thailand on vacation, where she meets an Italian prince who feeds all her worst instincts. She runs off to Italy with him and gets married. The band comes back together to rehearse for their tour, and everyone can sense that Niccolo (Nicky) is bad news. Jonah returns for an interview for Rolling Stone, and while Billy is at home with Camila, Daisy gets high and tells Jonah everything about Billy’s past. To prevent the publication of his personal story, Billy in turn gives Jonah the story about him and Daisy not getting along. The album drops and is a smash hit.
9. Aurora World Tour (1978–1979). Daisy Jones & The Six go on a sold-out stadium tour for Aurora. They are rock stars: famous and living to the extreme. Daisy and Billy will only perform together, and two tour buses transport the band. Nicky and Daisy are trashing hotel rooms on a regular basis in an escalation of their hard partying and drug addictions. Having nearly jumped off a rooftop with Nicky, Daisy says, “That wasn’t my rock bottom. But it was the first time I looked around and thought, Oh, wow, I’m falling” (271). One night, Daisy can barely get on stage and then can barely get the words out to the songs. Now that her drug addiction is affecting her music performance, the band members and Rod become extremely worried about the deepening Daisy crisis. While the band takes a brief holiday break for Christmas and the New Year, Pete proposes to his long-time girlfriend, Jenny, and reveals to his brother that he plans to leave the band after the Aurora tour. In Italy, Daisy nearly overdoses, and instead of calling for an ambulance, Nicky puts her under the shower. This moment is, finally, Daisy’s rock bottom. She leaves Nicky and returns to Seattle ready for a new start. Daisy doesn’t get sober, but she does start to scale back and make rules for her drug use. She starts to reach out to her bandmates again, free of the negative and controlling influence of Nicky. Daisy Jones & The Six win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, another iconic moment in a year defined by a speedy rise to fame. The year had just turned 1979, and Daisy is at the height of her fame. Daisy’s biographer explains, “That’s when she was fully self-actualized, fully in command of herself” (278-79). Meanwhile, other seams are breaking within The Six. Karen and Graham, who have successfully hidden their relationship from their friends and family for months, are torn apart when Karen gets pregnant and subsequently goes in for an abortion. Karen is sure of what she wants for her future, and that childless future of independence does not satisfy Graham’s desire for the fullness of her love. Daisy and Billy become close again after an intense performance together on Saturday Night Live. Billy finally comes to terms with his complicated feelings for Daisy. He admits to himself that he is in love with Daisy but that Camila means more to him. He and Daisy do not start an affair, but they can no longer deny their attraction to one another. One night, Daisy asks him to help her get sober. Billy is moved to be the person she comes to for her addiction, and he wants to help her as he has been helped, knowing how dearly his life has turned around since rehab. Before Billy can intervene, they receive a call that their beloved producer Teddy Price has died of a heart attack. Devastated by the loss, Camila is concerned that Billy will relapse. Daisy is embarrassed to be around Billy because they never finished the conversation about her sobriety. Camila finishes the tour with the band, but all the members are on different pages. Eddie is frustrated, Pete is planning to leave, Graham is heartbroken, Karen is torn, and Daisy is living with the shame of her addiction.
10. Chicago Stadium (July 12, 1979). Daisy and Billy perform “Honeycomb” in Chicago, where Camila and Julia’s presence plays on Daisy’s guilt. In thinking about Billy the night of July 12, 1979, Daisy says, “People say it’s hard to be away from the people you love but it was so hard to be right next to him” (309). The electricity between Billy and Daisy is still intense, but Daisy refuses to speak to him, having resigned herself to the reality of Billy’s family. Ashamed of himself, Billy sits down at a bar to tempt himself with a glass of tequila. Karen and Graham end their relationship and realize they will not be able to return to the band. Now that Pete, Karen, and Graham want out, the band is sure to end. Camila notices a drugged-up Daisy struggling to get into her hotel room and helps her inside. Daisy’s present-day interviewer, the author of the biography, stops the interview for clarification. She can remember the night when Camila took Daisy into Daisy’s room. The author of the biography is Julia, Billy’s eldest daughter, all grown up. Camila takes care of Daisy and helps her to bed, and the two women finally have a conversation. Camila tells Daisy she knows about the emotional rollercoaster between Daisy and Billy but says that Billy will never leave his family. Camila encourages Daisy to leave the band, saying, “if I’m right, you’d be doing us all a favor if you left and got yourself clean and found a life away from him” (319). Camila is not cruel with Daisy; instead, she is honest with her about the need for her to change her life around. Camila Dunne inspires Daisy to seek a better life for herself. Billy starts to drink the tequila downstairs at the bar, drawn to the tequila’s taste of “comfort and freedom” (318). The relapse doesn’t last long, as he realizes that with this relapse, he must leave the rock ’n’ roll life behind. Daisy leaves on the first plane out, and Billy announces to The Six that he will stop touring. Pete, Karen, Graham, and Billy have all made their own decisions to leave the band, but, as Karen says, “When Daisy left, it was like the Ferris wheel stopped turning and we all got off” (324). The chapter concludes with an Author’s Note describing the timeline of interviews with the author’s mother, Camila, who died of heart failure in 2012.
11. Then and Now (1979–Present). The story of the famous band Daisy Jones & The Six effectively ends on the night of July 12, 1979. The members of the band develop new lives for themselves, lives that are not as glamorous yet are more sustainable. Daisy Jones leaves the music industry, gets sober, writes books, and adopts children. Daisy’s friend Simone retires from music, but her daughter becomes a musical hit, too. Pete marries Jenny, has children, and now owns an artificial turf installation company in Arizona. Warren marries actress Lisa Crowne and moves back to California, where they have children. Graham never stops thinking of Karen, but he does marry and has children. Karen remains in the music industry for 20 years, playing keyboard for touring bands. Rod moves to Denver and leaves the music management industry for the real estate industry. Eddie is a record producer and pleased with his new life. Billy continues to write music for other artists, a job that keeps his creative impulses exercised while allowing him to maintain a peaceful family life. Camila dies at 63 years old, but Billy maintains his sobriety and his family.
12. One Last Thing Before I Go (November 5, 2012). The author of the biography, Julia, finds a note from her mother shortly before she dies. In the note, Camila tells her daughters where to find Daisy Jones’s phone number and instructs them to make sure their father gets back in touch with Daisy. The remainder of the chapter consists of the lyrics to Daisy Jones & The Six’s most famous songs.