'Daisy Jones & the Six' chases Fleetwood Mac-era rock drama. But this is what's missing

I wanted to love “Daisy Jones & the Six,” the new Prime Video series debuting March 3.

Alas, I did not.

Maybe it’s a matter of heightened expectations. Maybe it’s not. Whatever the case, the series, based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s enormously entertaining novel about the rise and fall of a 1970s rock band, is fine. Changes have been made to the book’s story, which is OK — filmmakers are not beholden to every comma and question mark when creating their own take on a novel.

And, as ever, a film or series should stand on its own; reading the book it’s based on should never be a prerequisite.

Although if you have read it, man, it’s tough to shake.

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Was 'Daisy Jones and the Six' a real band?

The cast is quite good, though the changes don’t always work. Daisy in particular, played by Riley Keough, has had some of her magic removed — through no fault of Keough’s, mind you. In the series, Daisy just isn’t the preternaturally magnetic force of nature she is in the novel. And therefore, she's somewhat less interesting.

But hold up a second. I said I didn’t love the series, and that’s true, but I didn’t hate it either. In fact, I enjoyed it for the most part.

But it didn’t live up to whatever absurd expectations I had for it. Would I like it more if I hadn’t read the book? I’m actually not sure I would have liked it as much.

I blame YouTube. And Fleetwood Mac, the band that is an obvious inspiration for the book (as Reid has said) and the series, with its big romantic dramas and even bigger hits.

But mostly, I blame YouTube.

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The entire time I “read” (as in, listened to on audible.com) the book, I couldn’t shake a video of Fleetwood Mac singing “Silver Springs” from the 1997 concert special “The Dance.”

At the 4:05 mark of the video, Stevie Nicks starts belting out the lyrics at former romantic partner Lindsey Buckingham with what looks like pure fury: “I’ll follow you down ’till the sound of my voice will haunt you … You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you.”

I had that snippet of a video, more than 25 years old, stuck in my head the entire time I listened to the novel, and it put it into a specific context. Naturally, that carried over to watching the series.

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Sam Claflin and Riley Keough star as Daisy and Billy

"Daisy Jones & the Six," told here in the style of a documentary, tells the story of a band from Pittsburgh led by Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), a natural frontman with the usual issues: addiction, infidelity, control-freakism. He marries Camila (Camila Morrone) when they’re young and becomes a father. His brother Graham (Will Harrison) is also in the band, along with Eddie (Josh Whitehouse), Warren (Sebastian Chacon) and Karen (Suki Waterhouse).

They’re a typical grinding band, but a few kind words land them in LA, where Billy literally bumps into super producer Teddy Price (Tom Wright), who puts them through their paces as they pay their dues.

Meanwhile, Daisy, a child of privilege ignored by her parents, starts hanging out on the Sunset Strip. She writes in a diary to take control of her life. Teddy spots her in a nightclub one night when she hops onstage to sing, but she’s reluctant to take his or anyone else’s advice about anything. She’s talented, clearly, but more at just being herself, at this point — a free spirit without any particular aim other than remaining true to herself.

Daisy also has plenty of issues, addiction among them. (She seems modeled on Nicks with a little Janis Joplin thrown in.)

What if, Teddy wonders, Daisy sang on one of the Six’s songs?

And thus, a fictional rock ’n’ roll legend is born.

The song turns out to be a big hit, so naturally the record company wants more. So does everyone in the band — except Billy. The nature of his relationship with Daisy is complicated (and again, different from the book). There are a lot of factors, but basically he sees her as a threat to his control, and rightly so.

Daisy Jones & the Six songs were contributed by Phoebe Bridgers, Jackson Browne, Marcus Mumford

The entire series is loaded with melodrama, and that’s not a complaint. Nothing the band does, good or bad, is easy; a good thing, since a smooth glide to success wouldn’t be interesting.

There are subplots, like Daisy’s friendship with burgeoning disco star Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be). Sometimes, like with Graham and Karen’s relationship, they add to the mix. Other times, like the episode in which Daisy goes to Greece, the discursions slam the brakes on the momentum the series has built.

Some of the surprises in the novel remain — one tiny, heartbreaking moment near the end, almost imperceptible, was more moving than anything else in the entire series.

The songs are pitch-perfect representations of 1970s soft, folk-inflected rock. Phoebe Bridgers, Jackson Browne and Marcus Mumford contributed songs.

It’s a good series, well-acted, competently scripted. But it just doesn’t quite rock.

Where to watch 'Daisy Jones and the Six'

The 10-episode series debuts on Prime Video on March 3. New episodes will be released every Friday until the series finale on March 24.

'Daisy Jones & the Six'

Streaming on Prime Video on March 3.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What 'Daisy Jones' fans can expect from the new Prime Video series