Page 39 of Daisy Jones & The Six

Pretty soon, Graham unofficially moved in. We spent that spring and summer just the two of us together. We’d grill on the patio for dinner and go see shows every night and sleep late in the mornings.

GRAHAM:Karen and I spent whole weekends high as shit, rich as hell, playing songs together, and not telling anybody where we were or what we were up to. It was our little secret. I didn’t even tell Billy.

People say that life keeps moving, but they don’t mention that it does stop sometimes, just for you. Just for you and your girl. The world stops spinning and just lets you two lie there. Feels like it, anyway. Sometimes. If you’re lucky. Call me a romantic if you have to. Worse things to be.

BILLY:I trusted Graham to handle everything with the band. I knew it was in good hands and my head was elsewhere.

DAISY:Simone left to make the rounds on another tour.

SIMONE:I was hitting the road for theSuperstaralbum. And in between shows, I was going to be based more in New York than L.A. The disco scene was really about doing the Hustle at Studio 54. So that’s where I was going.

DAISY:She seemed worried about me. I told her, “Go on. I’ll see you soon.” I was excited about everything I had in front of me. I was joining a band.

GRAHAM:I had everything straightened out. I’d talked to Rod and Teddy. Billy said he was ready to get started. And I had come up with a date to reasonably deliver an album. So I called a meeting.

WARREN:I was starting to live large from the money coming in. I’d bought my boat by then. I had a one-bedroom Gibson that I docked in Marina del Rey. Lots of cool chicks hanging out around there. Kept my drums at the house in Topanga and wasted away my nights and weekends drinking beers on the water.

EDDIE:Pete had spent our downtime with Jenny back in Boston. They were getting really serious.

Me, I didn’t like being home. I liked being on the road, you know what I mean? So I was ready to get back to work. I didn’t even mind the idea of dealing with Billy that much. Now, that’s saying something.

When Graham called to say it was time for us all to get together, I couldn’t get there fast enough. I called up Pete and said, “You got to get on the first flight back out here. Vacation’s over.”

DAISY:We all met up at the Rainbow—the band, me, Rod, Teddy—and everybody was catching up. Warren was talking about his boat and Pete was talking about Jenny Manes and Billy was showing Rod pictures of his twins. Everyone was really getting along. I mean, even Eddie and Billy seemed like they were doing all right. And Rod got up and he had his beer in his hand and he gave a toast about me joining the band.

ROD:I think I said, “The seven of you are only headed higher and higher,” or something like that.

BILLY:I thought,Boy, seven people in a band sounds like a lot.

DAISY:Everyone was clapping and Karen hugged me and I felt really welcomed, I really did. So I stood up as everyone was talking and I picked up my brandy and I held it out for a toast and I said, “I am so glad you all invited me to join you on this album.”

GRAHAM:Daisy starts doing this little speech and at first I think it’s nothing major.

DAISY:It was tough to get a read on Billy. He hadn’t called me since I’d been offered a spot in the band. I hadn’t heard much from anyone about how this was all going to go or how he was feeling about it. I just wanted to make sure everything was clear. I said, “I’m coming on board officially because I want to be a member of this team. An important member. I hope you all see this album as mine just as much as it’s anybody’s. Graham’s or Warren’s or Pete’s and Eddie’s or Karen’s…”

KAREN:“Or Billy’s,” she goes. I looked right to Billy to see his reaction. He was sipping a soda out of a beer stein.

BILLY:I thought,Why does she need to start trouble already?

DAISY:I said, “You all brought me on because when we work together, we make better music than what we do apart. So I want a say in what music we’re putting out. I want to write this album with you, Billy.”

Teddy had told me I could write my second album and this felt like that chance. And I wanted to be clear out of the gate, that’s what I was chasing. I wanted to stand up in front of a crowd, like I had that night singing “When You Fly Low” a cappella. I wanted to sing songs from my heart right to the people in front of me.

If The Six didn’t want me for that, I didn’t want whatever second prize they were offering.

GRAHAM:Daisy didn’t want Billy throwing a temper tantrum every time she tried to contribute something of her own. She was laying down the law early. Probably the way the rest of us should have from the beginning. If we wanted any sort of meaningful say.

Certainly if Eddie had half of Daisy’s balls, he would have solved his issues with Billy like that years ago.

BILLY:I said, “That’s fine, Daisy. We’re all in this together.”

WARREN:I didn’t bother getting riled up about it because what was the point? But Billy was acting like this was one big hippie commune where everyone had a say. And that was a lie.

KAREN:Billy did have a way of making you think you were crazy for eventhinkingthings were unfair when, in fact, they were completely unfair. He wasn’t even aware of the way everyone revolved around him.

ROD:The Chosen ones never know they are chosen. They think everyone gets a gold carpet rolled out for them.

GRAHAM:Pete chimed in at one point and said, “While this is all out on the table, I’m taking full control over my own bass lines from here on out.”

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