Rock and Roll Mountains

Graham Forbes loved to play guitar, whether it was with local rock groups pillaging village halls or on the big stages of the world with the Incredible String Band. But, like so many others, he enjoyed the gigs, groupies and booze too much. At 27, he found himself back in Glasgow, ears ringing, scratching his head, completely unemployable, with an empty bottle of tequila in his hand and a huge bank overdraft looming over his head. It had been great while it lasted but the party was over.

Realising his mind was like an out-of-control firework display and that his next stop was the Happy Duck Rest Home for the Bewildered, Forbes noticed there were hills nearby and decided to go for a quiet walk . . . It was the beginning of a journey that would transform Forbes completely, taking him from churning out 'Amarillo' for line-dancers to building one of the most successful removal companies in Britain and bluffing his way onto the board of directors of a national company.

Rock and Roll Mountains weaves its way through wild sex, drugs and rock tours to glowing sunsets on some of the most beautiful summits in the world. It describes how Forbes used lessons learned clinging terrified to frozen ice faces to run his company and win his battle against the drink. At times deeply moving, insightful yet hilarious and with an extraordinary climax, this book is for anyone who loves rock music and for those of us who might have looked in the mirror and wondered where it all went wrong.


ALL OR NOTHING
Marshall stacks and contoured bodies All I wanted from the age of 14 was to play guitar in a band. Any band. I was convinced that any spotty geek could get laid if he carried a guitar down the street. It didn't matter what kind of guitar: an old Hoffner, a beat-up Burns, a Rosetti - anything with a few rusty strings on it. He didn't even have to be able to play the damn thing, electric guitars just looked so cool, especially the flame-red ones. There was so much exciting music coming out; every morning I woke up and switched on the radio to hear brand-new records by all these fantastic groups with great names - Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, Small Faces, Animals, Yardbirds, Pretty Things. London became the city of dreams where you could achieve anything. Everyone felt good, even cats and dogs on the street seemed to be bopping along to the throbbing beat. Boys scrawled the names of their favourite bands in block capitals on their schoolbags and willed their hair to grow, hoping that everyone except their parents and teachers would notice it was hanging over their collars.
—excerpt from Rock and Roll Mountains

Graham Forbes was a member of the Incredible String Band, whose peak period was between 1967 and 1972. He now divides his time between Glasgow and Florida.