Yes Sir, I Will
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Yes Sir, I Will, released by Crass in 1983 (see 1983 in music), was the band's final 'official' album. The record consists of one single track (broken into two) made up of a bitter and virulent attack on then prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her government in the aftermath of the Falklands War, set over a raging and an almost free-form improvised backing provided by the groups' instrumentalists. Many of the 'lyrics' of this piece, which can be read at [1], are extracted from drummer Penny Rimbaud's extended poem Rocky Eyed. Sleeve notes for the album include parts of Rimbaud's article The Pig's Head Controversy [2] that originally appeared in the Crass produced magazine International Anthem.
The title of the record is ironic, taken from a news cutting reporting a conversation attributed to have taken place between Charles, Prince of Wales and a badly burned soldier (possibly Simon Weston?) who had returned from the Falklands;
"Get well soon," the Prince said. And the heroic soldier replied "Yes sir, I will".
A film made by artist Gee Vaucher to accompany Yes Sir, I Will was shown at the UK National Film Theatre's Stuff the Jubilee festival of punk films in 2002, and the track has been recently remixed by Penny Rimbaud to incorporate additional jazz instrumentation provided by Ingrid Laubrock (saxophone) and Julien Seigal (double bass) to augment the original performance.
Personnel
- Steve Ignorant - Vocals
- Joy DeVivre - Vocals
- Phil Free - Guitar
- Gee Vaucher - Voices, Artwork
- Eve Libertine - Vocals
- N.A. Palmer - Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals, Voices
- Penny Rimbaud - Drums, Vocals
- Pete Wright - Bass
- Paul Ellis - Piano, Strings
- Crass - Producer
- John Loder - Engineer
- Judy - Typing
Quotes
- "The listener experiences and shares the performer's exhaustion as voices crack, the beat wanders, energy flags and returns" - George McKay describing the album in Senseless Acts of Beauty (Verso, 1996)