Sophia Michaels
Adaptations of books have given us some of the most beloved movies and TV shows of all time, and the new Amazon Prime Video series “Daisy Jones & The Six” is set to be the next one. Based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s hit novel, the show follows the fictional rock band inspired by some of music’s most iconic groups. The first three episodes were released on the streamer on March 3, and readers may be surprised by how much it differs from the book that inspired it. The main story is still intact, following the rise and fall of Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), Daisy Jones (Riley Keough), Camila Dunne (Camila Marone), Graham Dunne (Will Harrison), Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse), and company. However, there are major changes to how they get to the top, how things fall apart, and where they end up landing. Reid herself said on Instagram before the premiere, “if the book is my child, the adaptation is my grandchild.”
The biggest difference between the book and show is the format. The book is written as a fake oral history, and every person has different interpretations of the events. The show includes clips from a “Behind the Music”-style documentary, but it’s mostly told via the events of the 1970s. Additionally, the creators of the show wrote totally new songs for the series, keeping only a handful of the track titles for the band’s album, “Aurora.”
The show also changes how many people are in The Six. In the book, there are six people in the band before Daisy joins, but the show eliminates Pete Loving, bringing the crew down to five. Warren Rhodes becomes Warren Rojas (Sebastian Chacon), and Eddie Loving becomes Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse). They justify the name by deciding that Camila is the sixth member.
Book Daisy records her own solo album before she ever meets The Six, but it’s of covers that the record label forces her to perform. It’s not a huge hit, but it establishes her as a serious vocalist. When she links up with The Six, she’s working on her new album. Show Daisy has literally never been in a recording studio before she teams up with The Six.
In Reid’s telling, Billy and Camila meet after a wedding where Billy and Graham see their dad. Camila is working as a waitress at the hotel’s bar, and he goes over to her and asks for her number. In the series, they meet at a laundromat. Camila already knows who Billy is when they have their first encounter. In both meetings, he promises to write a song for her. In the show, once the band decide to move to Los Angeles, Camila opts to go with them immediately. In the book, they break up when the band relocate to LA. Billy calls her when they finally sign their record contract, proposes to her, and she moves out to California to be with him.
In both the book and show, Billy cheats on Camila on the band’s first tour, and he misses the birth of their daughter Julia, heading to rehab instead. But the aftermath of that is very different in both works. In the show, Billy leaving rehab is very dramatic, and he and Camila are tense for a long time after. He’s even too afraid to pick up baby Julia until Camila tells him to get over it. In the book, Camila and Julia go with Graham to pick up Billy, and as soon as Billy sees them he feels so grateful for his family.
In both works, The Six sign with Rod as their manager, and while playing shows in LA, they get noticed by legendary producer Teddy Price (played by Tom Wright in the series). But in the show, Rod (Timothy Olyphant) only gives them a little help in LA, and Billy has a chance run-in with Teddy and convinces him to let The Six play for him. Teddy loves them. Billy’s rehab stint in the show completely derails plans for The Six, and they immediately get dropped by their label. Eddie notes they’re basically back where they started. When Billy gets out of rehab in the Amazon Prime Video version, he decides to leave the band, and they attempt to find a replacement singer. After talking to Camila, he writes a new song and asks the band to let him back in. That song turns into “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb).” Teddy likes the song, but the label doesn’t want to take another bet on The Six. But when Teddy plays the song for Daisy, she has ideas to make it better, and their collaboration is born. In the book, there are basically no career consequences for Billy going to rehab. He’s happy to join the band
