On June 29th, 1969, the British DJ John Peel opened Top Gear, his progressive-rock program on the BBC’s Radio One, by spinning the Rolling Stones’ new single “Honky Tonk Women.” Peel then introduced the first number from a four-song studio session by a rising young band, still less than a year old.RelatedLed Zeppelin Announce Expanded ‘Complete BBC Sessions’Band discovers 1969 recordings that include rare track “Sunshine Woman,” previously unavailable officially”

These are Led Zeppelin,” Peel announced in his hypnotizing monotone, “who played very excellently at the amazing festival in Bath yesterday, about which more later on. And this is curiously called ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’ – or something.”

It was only the second time anyone heard the song outside of London’s Olympic Studios, where Led Zeppelin – guitarist-founder Jimmy Page, bassist and keyboard player John Paul Jones, singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham – had recently finished cutting it for their second album, Led Zeppelin II. Two weeks before Peel’s transmission, the group taped a version of “What Is and What Should Never Be” for another BBC show, Tasty Pop Sundae. But Peel also had a couple of exclusives: the public debut of “Whole Lotta Love,” destined for immortality on Zeppelin’s next album, and a jubilant, acoustic mashup of Robert Johnson songs called “Traveling Riverside Blues.”

more at Source: Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin’s ‘Totally Fearless’ BBC Sessions – Rolling Stone