Frank Turner is a fierce performer. He combines the self-deprecating word-play and vocal style of eighties Billy Bragg, with the myth-building grandeur of seventies Bruce Springsteen and that lone finger-pointer with an acoustic guitar attack of early sixties Bob Dylan. But for all that history, he remains every bit a part of the binge-drinking, text-sending Britain of the 21st century. Dismiss him as another damn singer-songwriter or saddle him with the Voice of a Generation Curse (as CNN foolishly tried to do) or you can just accept Turner's self-designation of his work as, "campfire-punk". After all, when he played in Winnipeg in September, bottom-billed to Murder by Death, the Loved Ones and the Gaslight Anthem, he drew a tightly-packed crowd who were singing along within moments, as if there was a roaring fire right there in the room.
On this BBC session, Turner, backed by a full band, twists one of Dylan's earliest originals, "Song To Woody". Here, Turner revises the lyrics to turn the tribute back on Bob as well as "Springsteen, Cohen and Neil Young too" (as Dylan name-checked, "Cisco and Sonny and Leadbelly too"). Maybe Turner chose those names, song-writers who successfully shook off Dylan comparisons, to state that he has no intention of living in the shadow of any other performer.
(Frank Turner - Song to Bob Dylan)
Also in this session you get raw version of the anthemic single, "The Road" from his new album Poetry of the Deed and a faster, electric take on the poignant death-bed mediation "The Queen" from his break-through album, Love Ire and Song.
{MRML readers leave us a comment with your opinion on the whole Frank Turner phenomenon.}
D/L Frank Turner Live at Maida Vale
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