''BBC Sessions'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

featuring studio sessions and a live concert recorded by English

rock group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumen ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. It was released on 17 November 1997, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Disc one consists of material from four different 1969 BBC sessions. Disc two contains most of the 1 April 1971 concert from the

Paris Theatre The Paris Theatre (also known as the Paris Studios) was originally a cinema located at 12 Lower Regent Street in central London which was converted into a studio by the BBC for radio broadcasts requiring an audience. It was used for several ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Disc three was only included in a limited run of album releases and features rare interviews from 1969, 1976/1977, and 1990. Countless bootlegs of these recordings circulated for years before the official release. This release was widely welcomed by Led Zeppelin fans as it was the first live release since '' The Song Remains the Same'' in 1976. Others have criticized the decision to edit some of the songs and drop others that were recorded for the BBC. Most notable are one session from 1969 which included the unreleased song "Sunshine Woman", and about seven minutes of the "

Whole Lotta Love "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, '' Led Zeppelin II'', and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no singl ...

" medley from 1971. The album was re-released in September 2016 as ''The Complete BBC Sessions'' with further BBC recordings, including the "Sunshine Woman" session.

Track listing

Standard edition

''The Complete Sessions'' edition – bonus disc

Nine recordings from a conglomerate of 1969 sessions, including "Dazed and Confused", "I Can't Quit You Baby", "You Shook Me" and "Sunshine Woman" along with two versions of both "Communication Breakdown" and "What Is and What Should Never Be" (recorded two years apart) were released on 16 September 2016, comprising a third disc of the previously two-disc ''BBC Sessions'' compilation. Eight of the nine songs were previously unreleased; "White Summer" was previously released in 1990 on the ''

Led Zeppelin Boxed Set ''Led Zeppelin'' is a boxed set by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was the first compilation of songs by the band (not counting '' Coda'', which some sources list as a studio album) and the selection and remastering of the tracks were super ...

'' and the expanded 1993 reissue of '' Coda'' from '' The Complete Studio Recordings'' and '' Led Zeppelin Definitive Collection'' (2008)

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

s. The lost March 1969 three-song session – by all accounts erased from its master tapes – appears on the disc sourced from a reputed AM radio recording. This session contains the oft-bootlegged, boogieing blues rocker "Sunshine Woman," a track that Zeppelin never formally released previously, and renditions of Willie Dixon's "I Can't Quit You Baby" and "You Shook Me."

Recording information

; Session one :

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

's ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'' * Venue: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, London * Recording date: Monday 3 March 1969 * Original broadcast: Sunday 23 March 1969 (in a show with sessions from

Free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

and

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

) * Tracks: "Communication Breakdown" (disc 3, track 1), "Dazed and Confused" (disc 1, track 4), "You Shook Me" (disc 1, track 1), "I Can't Quit You Baby" (disc 1, track 2). * Producer: Bernie Andrews * Engineer: Pete Ritzema * Tape operator: Bob Conduct ; Session two :

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major i ...

's ''Rhythm and Blues'', (

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

) * Venue: Maida Vale Studio 4, Delaware Road, London * Recording date: Wednesday 19 March 1969 * Original broadcast: Monday 14 April 1969 * Tracks: "Sunshine Woman" (disc 3, track 9), "I Can't Quit You Baby" (disc 3, track 7), "You Shook Me" (disc 3, track 8). The session was wiped or lost by the BBC, although recordings survive on bootlegs. The show was re-run later in 1969, adding the recording of "What Is And What Should Never Be" from the June 16 session. * Producer: Jeff Griffin ; Session three : Chris Grant's ''Tasty Pop Sundae'' (originally commissioned for Dave Symond's ''Symonds On Sunday'' show) * Venue: Aeolian Hall Studio 2, Bond Street, London * Recording Date: Monday 16 June 1969 * Original Broadcast: Sunday 22 June 1969 * Tracks: "The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair" (disc 1, track 5), "Communication Breakdown" (disc 1, track 3), "Somethin' Else" (disc 1, track 10), "What Is and What Should Never Be" (disc 3, track 2). * Producer: Paul Williams ; Session four : John Peel's ''Top Gear'' (Double recording session) * Venue: Maida Vale Studio 4, Delaware Road, London * Recording date: Tuesday 24 June 1969 * Original broadcast: Sunday 29 June 1969 * Tracks: "Whole Lotta Love" (disc 1, track 9), "Communication Breakdown" (disc 1, track 7), "What Is and What Should Never Be" (disc 1, track 6), "Travelling Riverside Blues" (disc 1, track 8). "Travelling Riverside Blues" had previously been released on the ''Led Zeppelin'' box set and expanded versions of ''Coda''. * Producer: John Walters * Engineer: Tony Wilson ; Session five : ''One Night Stand'' * Venue: Playhouse Theatre * Recording date: Friday 27 June 1969 * Original broadcast: Sunday 10 August 1969 * Tracks: "Communication Breakdown" (disc 1, track 11), "I Can't Quit You Baby" (disc 1, track 12), "Dazed and Confused" (disc 3, track 3), "White Summer" (disc 3, track 4), "You Shook Me" (disc 1, track 13), "How Many More Times" (disc 1, track 14). "White Summer" had previously been released as "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" on the ''Led Zeppelin'' box set and expanded versions of ''Coda'', but with 15 seconds cut out. ; Session six : ''In Concert'' (Emcee John Peel) * Venue: Paris Theatre, Lower Regent Street, London * Recording date: Thursday 1 April 1971 * Original broadcast: Sunday 4 April 1971 * Tracks: "Immigrant Song", "Heartbreaker", "Since I've Been Loving You", "Black Dog", "Dazed and Confused", "Stairway to Heaven", "Going to California", "That's the Way" (disc 2, tracks 1–8), "What Is and What Should Never Be" (disc 3, track 5), "Whole Lotta Love" (medley, disc 2, track 9), "Thank You" (disc 2, track 10), "Communication Breakdown" (disc 3, track 6). The "Whole Lotta Love" medley has had "For What It's Worth", "Trucking Little Mama" and "Honey Bee" edited out, shortening the medley by seven minutes. * Producer: Jeff Griffin * Engineer: Tony Wilson

Personnel

Led Zeppelin *

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...

drums, percussion, backing vocals *

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

bass guitar,

bass pedals Bass pedals are an Electronic instrument, electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a Pedal clavier, pedalboard and analog synthesi ...

, keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals *

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, mastering,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

vocals, harmonica Additional personnel * Andie Airfix

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

Jon Astley Jon Astley (born 1951) is a British record producer and mastering engineer. He is best known for his co-production work with Glyn Johns on the Who's eighth studio album ''Who Are You'' (1978), and later remastering supervision for all of the grou ...

mastering * John Davis – mastering (''The Complete BBC Sessions'' 2016 reissue) *

Luis Rey Luis V. Rey (born 1955) is a Spanish-Mexican artist and illustrator. A 1977 graduate of the San Carlos Academy, part of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he was among the contributors of the weekly Barcelona satirical magazine '' El ...

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

* Chris Walterphotography

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

*
Ledzeppelin.com BBC Sessions

The Garden Tapes
– analysis of live tracks edits for the album {{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Sessions 1997 live albums 1997 compilation albums Albums produced by Jimmy Page BBC Radio recordings Led Zeppelin live albums Led Zeppelin compilation albums Live albums published posthumously Compilation albums published posthumously Atlantic Records live albums Atlantic Records compilation albums Folk rock compilation albums Live folk rock albums