Proving that a band is truly the sum of its parts, this music history traces the influences and experiences that would later converge to form Led Zeppelin. Every recording and live session made by the future band members is traced and woven into a rich and insightful web of influences that contains a complete family tree of their musical and professional colleagues as well as a massive discography and list of live performances. Staggering insight into the workings of this period's big wigs and foot soldiers accompany details on bands and records that were recently discovered to have featured Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones. Rare photographs of the bandmates in their pre–Led Zeppelin incarnations are included along with original interviews with their friends and colleagues.

The early history of the Rolling Stones—long shrouded in myth and confusion as a result of 40 years of the rock and roll lifestyle—is made clear in this concise account. Chronicling the band members from boyhood through the band's first record, cut in 1963, this biography contains rare photographs and never before published interviews with family members as well as every member who played with the band prior to the recognized line-up—including pre-Watts drummers Erky Grant and Mick Avory; Mick Jagger’s cousin, Rick Huxley; early Stones member Dick Taylor; and Phil May, a schoolmate of Jagger and Richards and member of The Pretty Things. Every aspect of the band’s development is explored, from their recording sessions to landing on the music charts, in this myth-shattering musical history.