BBC Sessions (Led Zeppelin album)

BBC Sessions
Live album / compilation album by Led Zeppelin
Released 11 November 1997
Recorded March and June 1969, 1 April 1971, London, England, United Kingdom
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, folk rock
Length 138:58
Language English
Label Atlantic
Producer Jimmy Page
Compiler Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin live album chronology
The Song Remains the Same
(1976)		 BBC Sessions
(1997)		 How the West Was Won
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Blender [2]
Robert Christgau [3]
Pitchfork Media (8.9/10)[4]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

BBC Sessions is a compilation album featuring studio sessions and a live concert recorded by English rock group Led Zeppelin for the BBC. It was released on 11 November 1997, by Atlantic Records. This was the first release of new Led Zeppelin material in 15 years. Disc 1 consists of material from four different 1969 BBC sessions. Disc 2 contains most of the 1 April 1971 concert from the Paris Theatre in London.[5] Disc 3 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 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 7 minutes of the "Whole Lotta Love" medley from 1971.[6]

Contents

Track listing

Disc one
  1. "You Shook Me" (Dixon/Lenoir) – 5:14
  2. "I Can't Quit You Baby" (Dixon) – 4:22
  3. "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham/Jones/Page) – 3:12
  4. "Dazed and Confused" (Page) – 6:39
  5. "The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair" (Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham/Estes) – 3:00
  6. "What Is and What Should Never Be" (Page/Plant) – 4:20
  7. "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham/Jones/Page) – 2:40
  8. "Travelling Riverside Blues" (Johnson/Page/Plant) – 5:12
  9. "Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant) – 6:09
  10. "Somethin' Else" (Cochran/Sheeley) – 2:06
  11. "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham/Jones/Page) – 3:05
  12. "I Can't Quit You Baby" (Dixon) – 6:21
  13. "You Shook Me" (Dixon/Lenoir) – 10:19
  14. "How Many More Times" (Bonham/Jones/Page) – 11:51
Disc two
  1. "Immigrant Song" (Page/Plant) – 3:20
  2. "Heartbreaker" (Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant) – 5:16
  3. "Since I've Been Loving You" (Jones/Page/Plant) – 6:56
  4. "Black Dog"(Jones/Page/Plant) – 5:17
  5. "Dazed and Confused" (Page) – 18:36
  6. "Stairway to Heaven" (Page/Plant) – 8:49
  7. "Going to California" (Page/Plant) – 3:54
  8. "That's the Way" (Page/Plant) – 5:43
  9. "Whole Lotta Love {inc. Boogie Chillun' (John Lee Hooker), Fixin' to Die (Bukkah White), That's Alright Mama (Arthur Crudup), A Mess of Blues (Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman)}" (Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant) – 13:45
  10. "Thank You" (Page/Plant) – 6:37

Recording information

Session one
John Peel's Top Gear
Session two
Alexis Korner's Rhythm and Blues, (BBC World Service)
Session three
Chris Grant's Tasty Pop Sundae (although originally commissioned for Dave Symond's Symonds On Sunday show)
Session four
John Peel's Top Gear (Double recording session)
Session five
One Night Stand
Session six
In Concert (Emcee John Peel)

Sales chart performance

Year Chart Peak position
1997 Japanese Albums Chart[7] 10
1997 French Albums Chart[8] 38
1997 New Zealand RIANZ Top 50 Albums Chart[9] 26
1997 Finnish Albums Chart[10] 28
1997 Swedish Albums Chart[11] 50
1997 UK Albums Chart[12] 23
1997 Norwegian Albums Chart[13] 36
1997 US Billboard The 200 Albums Chart[14] 12
1997 Canadian RPM Top 100 Chart[15] 30

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[16] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[17] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog #
United States 11 November 1997 Atlantic Records 4 LP 83061-1
2 Compact Disc 83061-2
2 Cassette 83061-4
3 Compact Disc 83074-2
United Kingdom 2 Compact disc 7567-83061-2
Japan WEA Japan 2 Compact disc 11756-7

Personnel

Led Zeppelin
Additional personnel

References

  1. ^ BBC Sessions at Allmusic
  2. ^ http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=2236
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: led zeppelin". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=led+zeppelin. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 
  4. ^ http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/19320-bbc-sessions
  5. ^ Lewis, Dave (2003). "Led Zeppelin at the BBC". Led Zeppelin: The 'Tight but Loose' Files': Celebration II (1st ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 8. ISBN 1-84449-056-4. 
  6. ^ Lewis, Dave (2004). "BBC Sessions". Led Zeppelin: The Complete Guide to Their Music (1st ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 76. ISBN 1-84449-141-2. 
  7. ^ "Top 100 Albums - 15 November 1998". Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
  8. ^ "Top 200 Albums - 22 November 1997". lescharts.com. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Led+Zeppelin&titel=How+The+West+Was+Won&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
  9. ^ "Top 50 Albums - 23 November 1997". RIANZ. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Led+Zeppelin&titel=BBC+Sessions&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-01-17. 
  10. ^ "Top 40 Albums - 23 November 1997". finnishcharts.com. http://finnishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Led+Zeppelin&titel=BBC+Sessions&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
  11. ^ "Top 100 Albums - 28 November 1997". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Led+Zeppelin&titel=BBC+Sessions&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
  12. ^ Warwick, Neil (2004). "Led Zeppelin - 29 November 1997". The Complete Book of the British Charts (3rd ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 627. ISBN 1-84449-058-0. 
  13. ^ "Top 40 Albums - 30 November 1997". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Led+Zeppelin&titel=BBC+Sessions&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
  14. ^ "The 200 Chart - 6 December 1997". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=305&cfgn=Albums&cfn=The+Billboard+200&ci=3029009&cdi=7260519&cid=12%2F06%2F1997. Retrieved 2009-01-17. 
  15. ^ "RPM Albums Chart - 1 December 1997". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3394&volume=66&issue=13&issue_dt=December%2001%201997&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=hrg50o22lgammqcogv27ve6d95. Retrieved 2009-01-17. 
  16. ^ "British album certifications – Led Zeppelin – BBC Sessions". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter BBC Sessions in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Led Zeppelin – BBC Sessions". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22BBC+Sessions%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH

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