Graham Ride was Brian Jones's best friend during the ten months immediately prior to Brian leaving his hometown of Cheltenham for the 'Smoke' of London to form the Rolling Stones.

   They may not have been blood brothers but they were the next best thing. They shared good times, bad times, money (mostly the author's), food, cigarettes, booze, revelations, depressions, views and philosophies. In those last ten months they had participated in an intensely musical learning period with its high and low points, its exultations, its disagreements and disappointments. They'd shared just about everything except women and a bed.

   What started off as an evangelical mission for Brian to spread the music of the Chicago Blues around Britain ended up as the invention and creation of the most enduring, and arguably the best, Rock and Roll band in the world.

   'Foundation Stone' affectionately records the influences and the shaping of Brian Jones as his musical talent blossomed. It portrays the essence of the early sixties in provincial Cheltenham and intimately brings to life the atmosphere of those exciting times and the way of life of a struggling future pop star.

   The lid on the true musical influences of Brian Jones is raised and many gaps filled. Why did Brian get hooked on the blues in the first place? Where did he first play the blues in public? How far removed from his later public persona was Brian before fame found him? This book answers these questions and many more.

   This second edition has an additional chapter telling how one of Brian's adopted children found his roots over forty years later.