Frank Turner
Frank Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English folk/punk singer-songwri… Read Full Bio ↴Frank Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English folk/punk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. Initially the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, Turner embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band's split in 2005. To date, Turner has released seven solo albums, three rarities compilation albums, one split album and a split EP, and several EPs. Turner's seventh and latest studio album, Be More Kind was released on 4th May 2018.
Frank Turner started solo acoustic shows prior to Million Dead's break up. The first official performance was at the first Small Town America all dayer at 93 Feet East on September 18th 2004. The solo performances were, in a sense, a sideline to Million Dead. They did allow Turner to display some of his own songwriting capabilities (without a band) as well as some covers of songs and bands he enjoyed, in some cases the songs were much re-worked to fit an acoustic atmosphere. Solo performances were also used to help bolster or expose Million Dead to new individuals as well, with some acoustic in-store and radio performances of Million Dead songs.
At the end of February and start of March (2006) Frank went to Oxford to record the "Campfire Punkrock" EP with Dive Dive as the backing band for three of the songs. This EP was released on May 15 2006 on a limited run through Xtra Mile recordings. It sold out after only a few weeks on sale and had to be re-pressed to meet demand.
With Jonah Matranga doing some touring in June 2006 in support of his CD/DVD album "Jonah Matranga" there was some discussion of Frank doing supports with Jonah, this only ended up with one show featuring both at The Peel in Kingston. The discussion however lead to the creation of the Jonah Matranga and Frank Turner split 12" vinyl. Released in the USA on Welcome Home Records and in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings. The release features Frank covering two songs by American songwriters and Jonah covering two songs by British songwriters. He was recently (September 18 2006) the last ever artist to perform on BBC Radio 1's Lamacq Live program, unveiling two new songs from "Sleep Is For The Week".
The good sales of "Campfire Punkrock" meant good news as this allowed Frank to record his debut album "Sleep Is For The Week" in August and September 2006. Recorded in Oxford with Dive Dive as extra band on a selection of the 13 tracks. The last track, "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends", is a live recording from a sold out show at the London Barfly and features the vocal contribution of the (approximately) 200 strong audience during a verse. Those in attendance and gave their names to Xtra Mile Recordings will have their names credited as contributers to this track.
In April 2008, his second album Love, Ire and Song was released to critical acclaim.
His third full-length album, Poetry Of The Deed, was released September 7th 2009, and includes the singles The Road, Try This At Home and Isabel. An accompanying DVD, Take To The Road, was released in March 2010.
Amidst extensive touring in support of Poetry of the Deed, Turner and his then-untitled backing band recorded Rock & Roll, an EP consisting of tracks written at the same time as Poetry of the Deed alongside new material. Following its release, Turner and the band spent twenty days in January 2011, recording their next studio album with producer Tristan Ivemy. The result was England Keep My Bones, the fourth studio album by Frank, released on June 6, 2011, on Xtra Mile in the United Kingdom, and on June 7, 2011, on Epitaph Records worldwide. Preceded by the single, "Peggy Sang the Blues", the album was produced and mixed by Tristan Ivemy, who had previously mixed Love, Ire and Song, Rock & Roll and Campfire Punkrock.
The album's title is taken from William Shakespeare's play, The Life and Death of King John, with Turner noting, "I knew that the album was, for the most part, about mortality, and about Englishness. Shakespeare seemed like a good place to go hunting for some pearls of wisdom, and with a little help from my friend Ben we came across this one, and it just seemed to fit the work really well."
Following the completion of the album, Turner subsequently announced his backing band had named themselves The Sleeping Souls, after a lyric in the track, "I Am Disappeared". The Sleeping Souls are Nigel Powell, Ben LLoyd, Tarant Anderson and Matt Nasir.
Turner recorded his fifth studio album in Burbank, California, in October 2012. The reason for recording first time abroad in California was, that producer Rich Costey wouldn't come to England with all his equipment so he convinced Turner to record it in Burbank. Frank Turner announced via Twitter on 28 October 2012 that recording was completed, and mixing and mastering would be done in time for a March 2013 release date. During the November and December UK tour a free CD titled Good Hangs from Xtra Mile Recordings was distributed for free at Frank Turner shows, this included a yet-to-be-released Turner song titled "Tattoos" plus the Möngöl Hörde song "Casual Threats From Weekend Hardmen". On Christmas Day 2012, the song "Four Simple Words" was released on Xtra Mile Recordings' website as a free download along with the b-side "Cowboy Chords". On 4 January 2013, a video was shot for what would be the first single. On the same day Frank announced on Twitter that the single was the song "Recovery". On 9 January, Frank uploaded a photo to his Instagram page showing the names of all 13 songs that would feature on his new album. This included songs played during the UK and US tours of 2012 such as "Anymore", "Plain Sailing Weather", "We Shall Not Overcome" and "Tell Tale Signs". Frank also posted on his fan forum that an extended edition of his new album would be released that includes an extra 5 or 6 songs. On 19 February 2013, it was announced that Turner had signed a licensing deal with Interscope Records in the US for Tape Deck Heart. Following the release of the album Frank Turner embarked on a short U.K tour.
[this section requires expansion, to cover the period 2013 to 2018]
Discography:
2005 - Frank Turner's Demo
2007 - Campfire Punkrock
2007 - The Real Damage
2007 - Sleep Is For The Week
2008 - Love Ire & Song
2008 - The First Three Years
2009 - Poetry Of The Deed
2010 - Take to the Road: Live 2009
2010 - iTunes Festival: London 2010
2011 - 2011-11-17: Daytrotter Session, Big Orange Studios, Austin, TX, USA
2012 - The Second Three Years
2012 - Last Minutes and Lost Evenings
2013 - Tape Deck Heart
2014 - Polaroid Picture
2014 - The Third Three Years
2015 - Positive Songs for Negative People
2017 - Songbook
2018 - Be More Kind
2019 - No Man's Land
2020 - West Coast vs. Wessex
2020 - Buddies II: Still Buddies
Frank Turner started solo acoustic shows prior to Million Dead's break up. The first official performance was at the first Small Town America all dayer at 93 Feet East on September 18th 2004. The solo performances were, in a sense, a sideline to Million Dead. They did allow Turner to display some of his own songwriting capabilities (without a band) as well as some covers of songs and bands he enjoyed, in some cases the songs were much re-worked to fit an acoustic atmosphere. Solo performances were also used to help bolster or expose Million Dead to new individuals as well, with some acoustic in-store and radio performances of Million Dead songs.
At the end of February and start of March (2006) Frank went to Oxford to record the "Campfire Punkrock" EP with Dive Dive as the backing band for three of the songs. This EP was released on May 15 2006 on a limited run through Xtra Mile recordings. It sold out after only a few weeks on sale and had to be re-pressed to meet demand.
With Jonah Matranga doing some touring in June 2006 in support of his CD/DVD album "Jonah Matranga" there was some discussion of Frank doing supports with Jonah, this only ended up with one show featuring both at The Peel in Kingston. The discussion however lead to the creation of the Jonah Matranga and Frank Turner split 12" vinyl. Released in the USA on Welcome Home Records and in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings. The release features Frank covering two songs by American songwriters and Jonah covering two songs by British songwriters. He was recently (September 18 2006) the last ever artist to perform on BBC Radio 1's Lamacq Live program, unveiling two new songs from "Sleep Is For The Week".
The good sales of "Campfire Punkrock" meant good news as this allowed Frank to record his debut album "Sleep Is For The Week" in August and September 2006. Recorded in Oxford with Dive Dive as extra band on a selection of the 13 tracks. The last track, "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends", is a live recording from a sold out show at the London Barfly and features the vocal contribution of the (approximately) 200 strong audience during a verse. Those in attendance and gave their names to Xtra Mile Recordings will have their names credited as contributers to this track.
In April 2008, his second album Love, Ire and Song was released to critical acclaim.
His third full-length album, Poetry Of The Deed, was released September 7th 2009, and includes the singles The Road, Try This At Home and Isabel. An accompanying DVD, Take To The Road, was released in March 2010.
Amidst extensive touring in support of Poetry of the Deed, Turner and his then-untitled backing band recorded Rock & Roll, an EP consisting of tracks written at the same time as Poetry of the Deed alongside new material. Following its release, Turner and the band spent twenty days in January 2011, recording their next studio album with producer Tristan Ivemy. The result was England Keep My Bones, the fourth studio album by Frank, released on June 6, 2011, on Xtra Mile in the United Kingdom, and on June 7, 2011, on Epitaph Records worldwide. Preceded by the single, "Peggy Sang the Blues", the album was produced and mixed by Tristan Ivemy, who had previously mixed Love, Ire and Song, Rock & Roll and Campfire Punkrock.
The album's title is taken from William Shakespeare's play, The Life and Death of King John, with Turner noting, "I knew that the album was, for the most part, about mortality, and about Englishness. Shakespeare seemed like a good place to go hunting for some pearls of wisdom, and with a little help from my friend Ben we came across this one, and it just seemed to fit the work really well."
Following the completion of the album, Turner subsequently announced his backing band had named themselves The Sleeping Souls, after a lyric in the track, "I Am Disappeared". The Sleeping Souls are Nigel Powell, Ben LLoyd, Tarant Anderson and Matt Nasir.
Turner recorded his fifth studio album in Burbank, California, in October 2012. The reason for recording first time abroad in California was, that producer Rich Costey wouldn't come to England with all his equipment so he convinced Turner to record it in Burbank. Frank Turner announced via Twitter on 28 October 2012 that recording was completed, and mixing and mastering would be done in time for a March 2013 release date. During the November and December UK tour a free CD titled Good Hangs from Xtra Mile Recordings was distributed for free at Frank Turner shows, this included a yet-to-be-released Turner song titled "Tattoos" plus the Möngöl Hörde song "Casual Threats From Weekend Hardmen". On Christmas Day 2012, the song "Four Simple Words" was released on Xtra Mile Recordings' website as a free download along with the b-side "Cowboy Chords". On 4 January 2013, a video was shot for what would be the first single. On the same day Frank announced on Twitter that the single was the song "Recovery". On 9 January, Frank uploaded a photo to his Instagram page showing the names of all 13 songs that would feature on his new album. This included songs played during the UK and US tours of 2012 such as "Anymore", "Plain Sailing Weather", "We Shall Not Overcome" and "Tell Tale Signs". Frank also posted on his fan forum that an extended edition of his new album would be released that includes an extra 5 or 6 songs. On 19 February 2013, it was announced that Turner had signed a licensing deal with Interscope Records in the US for Tape Deck Heart. Following the release of the album Frank Turner embarked on a short U.K tour.
[this section requires expansion, to cover the period 2013 to 2018]
Discography:
2005 - Frank Turner's Demo
2007 - Campfire Punkrock
2007 - The Real Damage
2007 - Sleep Is For The Week
2008 - Love Ire & Song
2008 - The First Three Years
2009 - Poetry Of The Deed
2010 - Take to the Road: Live 2009
2010 - iTunes Festival: London 2010
2011 - 2011-11-17: Daytrotter Session, Big Orange Studios, Austin, TX, USA
2012 - The Second Three Years
2012 - Last Minutes and Lost Evenings
2013 - Tape Deck Heart
2014 - Polaroid Picture
2014 - The Third Three Years
2015 - Positive Songs for Negative People
2017 - Songbook
2018 - Be More Kind
2019 - No Man's Land
2020 - West Coast vs. Wessex
2020 - Buddies II: Still Buddies
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Frank Turner Lyrics
1933 "Stop asking musicians what they think" He said softly as he…
21st Century Survival Blues I've got the 21st century survival blues A condition brought…
A Decent Cup of Tea It hadn't been a day when Everything had turned out right …
A Love Worth Keeping Rise in the morning at sunrise Strangers around me sleep sou…
Anymore The single saddest thing that I ever heard you say Was…
Back in the Day When I was just a skinny lad on holiday by…
Back to Sleep Slumber-blind I speak my mind When I'm out cold (or so…
Barbara Allen They're coming out of the walls, They're coming up through…
Be More Kind History's been leaning on me lately I can feel the future…
Better Half Oh my friend loneliness, where have you been? You left to…
Blackout You were watching your favorite show When the TV died The bi…
Brave Face Put on your brave face, I need your brave face Honey…
Broken Piano As I walked out one morning fair, I found myself drawn…
Casanova Lament I check that I've got all my things before I…
Common Ground If it were just the best of us Against the rest…
Dan's Song Me and my friend Dan, Are going to get some beers, And…
Dancing Queen You can dance You can jive Having the time of your life S…
Demons Yeah! If life gives you demons, make a deal Meet them at…
District Sleeps Alone Tonight Smeared black ink Your palms are sweaty And I'm barely lis…
English Curse Many years back when the old oaks were young Not long…
Eulogy Not everyone grows up to be an astronaut, Not everyone was…
Faithful Son Meet me on the edges of the city, Meet me where…
Father's Day When I was sixteen I cut myself a Mohawk, Because I…
Fix Me Someday I'll feel no pain Someday I won't have a brain T…
Four Simple Words Because we're all so very twenty first century, You're proba…
Front Crawl If I was to walk from where I am To where…
Get Better I got me a shovel And I'm digging a ditch And I'm…
Get It Right Last night I had a vision Of people asking questions Instead…
Glorious You Can see you hurting beneath your new red dress Beneath your…
Glory Hallelujah Brothers and sisters, have you heard the news? The storm has…
Going Nowhere When you're just a stone's throw from where you started…
Good & Gone I have searched for you In the darkness of a dozen…
Heartless Bastard Motherfucker Well I lie I cheat and I steal, And I don't…
Hold Your Tongue Been pretty since the day you were born So the roots…
Home I come from the land of the Wessex downs From the…
I Am Disappeared I keep having dreams Of pioneers and pirate ships and Bob…
i am dissappeared I keep having dreams Of pioneers and pirate ships and Bob…
I Believed You William Blake Have you seen my husband? You'd know him, if you had He's…
I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous Let's begin at the beginning: We're lovers and we're losers,…
I Really Don't Care What You Did On Your Gap Year We were only supposed to go out for the night, But…
I Still Believe Hear ye, hear ye, friends and Romans, countrymen. Hear ye, h…
If Ever I Stray Forgive me, someone, for I have sinned And I know not…
Imperfect Tense Naked and retched and retching on a hotel bathroom floor,…
Isabel So now the years are rolling by, And it's not long…
Jet Lag I've heard it said the trick Is to set your watch…
Jinny Bingham's Ghost If you're heading down to Camden Town Be sure to raise…
Josephine I heard the name Josephine It came to me in dream And…
Journey of the Magi Moses was old, a chill in his bones. Falling apart, he…
Journey To The Magi Moses was old, a chill in his bones. Falling apart, he…
Last Christmas Last Christmas I gave you my heart But the very next…
Linoleum Possessions never meant anything to me I'm not crazy Well …
Little Changes One, two One, two, three, four Ooh, ooh Waking up too early…
Live Fast Die Old I bought my soul back from the devil, And now…
Long Live the Queen I was sipping on a whiskey when I got the…
Longing For The Day I've been trying to find a way that I could…
Losing Days Oh my broken battered body In the days when I was…
Love 40 Down I'm love forty down As the match slips away from me,…
Love Ire & Song Well, a teacher of mine once told me That life was…
Make America Great Again Well I know I'm just an ignorant Englishman But I'd like…
Mittens Wandering lonely through the snow streets of New York I stum…
Mr Richards One fine day near the end of the tax year Mr…
Must Try Harder Mother loves me still despite My failing health and lack of…
My Kingdom for a Horse Would you pick your clothes up, put your clothes on, Pack…
My Poor Friend Me Lunchtime Friday, leave work early Rushing through the subu…
Nashville Tennessee From the heart of the Southern Downs, to the North-East…
Nashville Tennessee (demo) From the heart of the southern downs, To the northeast Londo…
Nica Calm down Nica You don't have to wait outside of the…
Nights Become Days We saw in the dawn from the roof of the…
Oh Brother I never had a brother, old friend you had three. You…
On a Plain You and I could have a rock n' roll romance, We…
Once We Were Anarchists The demonstrations got boring – Well it was obvious that th…
One Foot Before the Other On the very day I die The very last of my…
Our Lady Of The Campfire Tonight is her night, and the city holds is breath, Caught…
Our Lady of the Campfires Tonight is her night and the city holds its breath Caught…
Out Of Breath One, two, three, four Oh, somewhere down the road, there's …
Pass It Along When I was sixteen I cut myself a Mohawk, Because I…
Pay to Cum I make decision with precision Lost inside this manned coll…
Peggy sang Blues Peggy came to me in my sleep In the middle of…
Photosynthesis Well I guess I should confess that I am starting…
Plain Sailing Weather Just give me one fine day of plain sailing weather And…
Poetry of the Deed They're coming out of the walls, They're coming up through…
Polaroid Picture Man, we used to be brothers Superheroes and warriors Cowboys…
Reasons Not to Be an Idiot You're not as messed up as you think you are…
Recovery Blacking in and out in a strange flat in east…
Redemption I was walking home to my house through the snow…
Rescue Annie They found her body in the water Floating face down in…
Richard Divine Richard Divine made up his mind To take the last…
Rivers Our history runs down our rivers Down our rivers to the…
Rock & Roll Romance You and I could have a rock n' roll romance, We…
Rock and Roll Romance You and I could have a rock n' roll romance We…
Romantic Fatigue I have to admit that I am one of the…
Rosemary Jane Rosemary Jane is the first out of bed Every morning the…
Sally If I had a clue and a room, I would…
Sea Legs Moving, keep moving, the tour never stops. In the light of…
Silent Key On the 28th of January, 1986, Christa McAuliffe Gazed in hor…
Sister Rosetta Sister Rosetta Godmother of rock and roll The original siste…
Smiling At Strangers On Trains It was the strangest thing today I saw new footprints in…
Song for Eva Mae Eva Mae, I remember the date you were born It was the…
Song for Josh So this song's for Josh Why didn't you call? My phone's alw…
Sons of Liberty Once an honest man could go from sunrise to its…
St Christopher Is Coming Home Monday morning, comes a crawling in From another weekend ch…
St. Christopher Is Coming Home Monday morning, comes a crawling in From another weekend cho…
Substitute The first girl that I fell for was a fair…
Sunday Nights Sunday nights are slow surrender. It never lasts and we neve…
Sunshine State I remember the day - the day when I had…
Tattoos Oh it's payday, yes it's payday I got my pay check…
Tell Tale Signs God dammit Amy, we're not kids any more. You can't just…
Thatcher Fucked the Kids Whatever happened to childhood? We're all scared of the kids…
The Angel Islington By the waters of the Thames I resolve to start again To…
The Ballad of Me and My Friends Everybody's got themselves a plan Everybody thinks they'll b…
The Death Of Dora Hand Dora Hand was a singer in the New York operetta Born…
The Fastest Way Back Home I should have seen you were coming, I should have…
The Fisher King Blues Parents don't be too kind to your kids, Or how else…
The Greatest Day The Next Round The Next Round I drink…
The Hymn Of Kassiani I've heard that they call me the woman Who has fallen…
The Ladies of London Town There's so many beautiful girls in here tonight, I can hard…
The Lifeboat There's a shadow across the land There's a hatred and a…
The Lioness They said that times were hard for honest men But she…
The Modern Leper A cripple walks amongst you all You tired human beings He'…
The Next Round The Next Round The Next Round I drink…
The Next Storm We had a difficult winter We had rough few months When the…
The Opening Act of Spring Oh the birds are ringing in The opening act of spring And…
The Outdoor Type Always had a roof above me Always paid the rent But…
The Quiet One What kind of drugs have you done tonight? 'Cause you've got…
The Real Damage I woke up on a sofa in an unfamiliar house,…
The Road To the east to the east The road beneath my feet To…
The Way I Tend To Be Some mornings I pray for evening, For the day to be…
There She Is I have wandered Through the dark Through the dirt I was hurt…
This Town Ain't Big Enough for the One of Me A free house, a sound-system and a fridge full of…
Thunder Road The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves Like a vision she…
Time Machine I'ma gonna build myself a time machine On particle physics a…
To Absent Friend Lunchtime Friday, leave work early Rushing through the subu…
To Absent Friends Lunchtime Friday, leave work early Rushing through the subur…
To Take You Home I come from the land of the Wessex downs From the…
Try This At Home Let's inherit the earth, 'cause no one else is taking…
Undeveloped Film Sorting through my things the other day I found an old…
Vital Signs This country is my canvas – I leave paint trails as…
Wanderlust I have wept until I've slept Into the lap of the…
We Shall Not Overcome The bands I like, they don't sell too many records And…
Wessex Boy Let me tell you all a little story of the…
Wherefore Art Thou Gene Simmons A mother said, "Beware of boys in bands And certainly don't…
Wisdom Teeth It's been 18 months since I kissed you once, so…
Worse Things Happen at Sea Honestly, relax my dear, it's clear that we are done It…
You Are My Sunshine You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy…