It’s almost 20 years now since Led Zeppelin released the BBC Sessions, an acclaimed two-disc set of live recordings selected from the band’s appearances on BBC radio between 1969 and 1971. September 16 2016 sees the release of “The Complete BBC Sessions”, an updated version of the collection that’s been newly remastered supervised by Jimmy Page and expanded with eight unreleased BBC recordings, including three rescued from a previously “lost” session from 1969. For those that still worship at the altar of Zep it’s yet another piece of the pie to collect and coming in various formats I just know some of you will want it all.
The important bit of course is that third disc with the eight unreleased recordings along with session by session notes from Dave Lewis who for the first time ever provides accurate details and notes about all of the band’s BBC sessions.
Highlights include a long-lost radio session originally broadcast in April 1969, which comprises of: “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” “You Shook Me,” and the only ever recorded performance of “Sunshine Woman.” Also included are two unreleased versions of both “Communication Breakdown” and “What Is and What Should Never Be.” If you want to see band evolve before your eyes compare the recordings.
Based on what you can hear on these recordings it’s easy to see why Led Zeppelin between the years of 1969 and 1971 were regarded by many as the best band on the planet: there’s an urgency and a dynamism you kind of forget listening to the studio albums.
Best and most interesting her are probably the superb “You Shook Me“; “The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair,” and “Travelling Riverside Blues,” ” from the first disc, “Communication Breakdown” from the new disc as well as the final track “Sunshine Woman,” a bluesy number from 1969 that never made an album.
Essential.
THE COMPLETE BBC SESSIONS
Disc One
1. “You Shook Me” | 2. “I Can’t Quit You Baby” | 3. “Communication Breakdown” | 4. “Dazed and Confused” | 5. “The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair”|6. “What is and what Should Never be” |7. “Communication Breakdown” | 8. “Travelling Riverside Blues” | 9. “Whole Lotta Love” | 10. “Somethin’ Else” | 11. “Communication Breakdown” | 12. “I Can’t Quit You Baby” | 13. “You Shook Me” | 14. “How Many More Times”
Disc Two
1. “Immigrant Song” | 2. “Heartbreaker” | 3. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” | 4. “Black Dog” | 5. “Dazed And Confused” |6. “Stairway to Heaven” | 7. “Going to California” |8. “That’s The Way”| 9. “Whole Lotta Love” (Medley: Boogie Chillun/Fixin’ to Die/That’s Alright Mama/A Mess of Blues)| 10. “Thank You”
Disc Three
1. “Communication Breakdown” *| 2. “What Is and What Should Never Be” * | 3. “Dazed And Confused” * |4. “White Summer” | 5. “What Is and What Should Never Be” * | 6. “Communication Breakdown” * | 7. “I Can’t Quit You Baby” *| 8. “You Shook Me” * |9. “Sunshine Woman” *
* Previously Unreleased
