A 1969 session recorded by Led Zeppelin, thought to have been lost when BBC archives were cleared, is to be included on an expanded re-issue of the band’s 1997 compilation The Complete BBC Sessions later this year.

A set from the then-fledgling rock giants was broadcast on the BBC’s World Service as part of Alexis Korner’s Rhythm and Blues programme. Featuring the only known recording of Zep’s version of ‘Sunshine Woman’, it was never heard again and was presumed to have been lost.

However, a home recording was made by a fan from an AM radio, and has been restored to reasonable quality by professionals overseen by the group’s guitarist Jimmy Page.

Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin launching their compilation 'Mothership' in 2012

Also included in the session are versions of ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ and ‘You Shook Me’, and they’re to be added to the expanded box set along with five other new tracks when The Complete BBC Sessions is re-issued on September 16th. Originally brought out in 1997 as BBC Sessions, it showcases all the sessions the group recorded for the BBC between 1969 and 1971, spanning their first four albums.

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Furthermore, it is set to feature the first-ever broadcast version of Led Zeppelin’s signature song ‘Stairway To Heaven’, the track that was recently the subject of a well-publicised copyright theft trial brought by one of their former support bands. The group defeated the claim earlier this month.

Speaking about the compilation, Jimmy Page said: “We’d been on the road a lot by the time those sessions were recorded. The albums were always the starting point of the music, and then we’d take it out and expand it on the road. Then we’d come straight off the road into those BBC studios.”

Led Zeppelin became one of the biggest-selling rock acts in history, officially splitting up in 1980 shortly after the sudden death of drummer John Bonham. However, they re-united briefly in 2007 for a one-off gig at London’s O2 Arena, with Bonham’s son Jason on drums.

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