Eleven years on since my liver failure, hep A and coma debacle, I must confess that I have been ill for years. I had a TIA also in 2015 and walked with a cane for seven years. But I can walk unaided now so, where to walk to? I picked the narrow path. The other one nearly got me killed. This album is dedicated to God and the British taxpayer for paying my healthcare expenses and my welfare these past years. You are still covering me for my alcoholic idiocy over a decade ago. I cannot thank you enough.
I may not be conventionally sane or I probably wouldn't require mood stabilisers an anti-psychotics. The ME and arthritis don't help either! If this record contains tough love, I needed it. You may too.
Anyhow, trust me, I'm bipolar and I know how this show goes.
I need to go study theology for a year now. Speak to you in twelve months time. Au revoir.
God bless
Joshua Francis
Merseyside, England.
3rd July 2023.
p.s. I outlived Errol Flynn the other day!
All songs written, performed and produced by Joshua Francis, except Lynyrd Skynyrd's Innyrds (Collins, Van Zant, Korden, Francis)
Barking vocals - Toto The Dog

Hill To Die On

Live at the Captain's Table, Ely.
I love gigs on boats. It shows!
Recorded by Samantha Francis

Joshua Francis - Proof Of Love (Bonus Live Track)

The story of how I came to be Joshua Francis - and why.

Joshua Francis - Spanner In The Works

My tribute to the Ealing films made in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s. If the past is a place, I wanna go home.

Joshua Francis - Passport To Pimlico (Album Version)

This is very, very bad indeed. I am so mentally ill that I will never work a straight job again but I could never aspire to this level of insanity. The trafficking industry is worth 34 billion dollars a year. It's downright evil. Evil and insane.

Joshua Francis - Adrenochrome

Christian Concern. A street preacher with no voice, a silent woman on a kerbside and a jailed Irish schoolteacher. People getting arrested for adhering to the Gospel in nominally Christian countries.
What the hell is happening?

Joshua Francis - John Dunn Right

It is nowhere near as bad as it's gonna get. Enjoy the periods of respite while they last. There is much skull-duggery afoot.

Joshua Francis - Unbearable

A hug for the ears of the downhearted. 
For my beloved Samantha.

Joshua Francis - Baby's Gone Down

Ok, so it was a harp! But who plays the harp these days?! This song is about King David, inspiration over technical proficiency and me. the bridge takes us into the Book of Amos.

Joshua Francis - God's Own Guitar Player

Poor Hank, poor Elvis. They got used, worked to death. There is something very wrong with the entertainment industry. 
For Johnny "Blackjack" Railton.

Joshua Francis - Nashville Babylon

Written at the beginning of Hanukkah after another appalling psychotic episode. I know I've upped the anti-psychotics a tad but I've been well behaved for five and a half months - a record, I believe. So I made one.

Joshua Francis - Shackle Me Unto Thy Feet

My first genuine attempt at a hymn. 
p.s. It doesn't. I tried to bend it and got really, really hurt. Meddle at thy peril.

Joshua Francis - Which Part Of This Book Bends?

Nearly everything hurts but I am so very grateful to be alive. Thank you.

Joshua Francis - Lynyrd Skynrd's Innyrds

Alcoholic escapades long behind me, I'm still a bit Jack Sparrow, still a little punchy. But boy do I know the difference between right and wrong these days. I always thought an OBE was awarded by the monarch but no, Out of Body Experiences, complete with ass-kickings from Jesus in Person, are still alive and well in the 21st Century. There is an easier way to reach Him than by nearly dying. These days I find prayer suffices and costs the tax payer less money.

Joshua Francis - If Whisky Learned To Walk

If I ever have to make a stand: He died on one for me. 
My second attampt at a hymn.

Joshua Francis - Hill To Die On

Joshua's music is a unique blend of original rock n roll, blues and folk, with powerful vocals; but he has been described as producing an insanely diverse range of styles, from ballads to showtunes and everthing in between. His songwriting is poetic and his performance is professional and highly energetic.
He draws his influences from Jerry Lee Lewis, The Rat Pack, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones and Steve Earle. Joshua has a very focussed work ethic and if he is not recording then he is touring the country, playing live at a variety of venues.
Very often his songs are of a social conscience nature, particularly focussing on homelessness, and he is a regular at Thorn Cross Prison, Warrington where he performs concerts for his "jailhouse flock". He has made several records for charity, including an EP for mental health charity Rethink. 
Highlights of his career so far include playing Christian music festival KingsStock in 2015, performing at Strawberry Fair last year and playing in front of Terry Waite C.B.E. for homeless charity Emmaus UK's 25th anniversary in Cambridge.
Joshua has received radio airplay all over the UK, North and South America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He is also a regular guest on HCR104fm radio based in Huntingdon and Flame Christian & Community Radio in Birkenhead.
Last year's Valentine's Day single "5am" was reviewed by moremore sound who said it was "an original and distinctive musical accomplishment". "Alimony Street" was reviewed by Middle Tennessee Music who said it was "a simplistic balladesque record infused with...powerful vocals". His current album, released in July last year, has been favourably reviewed by The Black Label Agency in Belgium, Beachsloth.com and Christian Radio station The Antidote".
This year, Joshua is working on his next album "Menorahs And Fedoras" which will be released in the summer, and is about to being another extensive tour of the UK – dates are still being added.
Everything Joshua writes and produces is available for free on Soundcloud.