Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

To mark the 50 years since he joined the Beatles, Ringo has released a sweetly nostalgic tribute to his early musical roots, including skiffle (“Rock Island Line”) and Buddy Holly (“Think It Over”). The album, featuring guests from the Eagles (Joe Walsh), the Heartbreakers (Benmont Tench) and Eurythmics (Dave Stewart), boasts one touching highlight: Ringo’s autobiographical “In Liverpool,” in which he sings “Me and the band/living our fantasies/breaking the rules, acting like fools/that’s how it was for me.”

The Beatles may have been born in Liverpool, but they grew up in Hamburg. The German city was where they honed their chops—performing 281 concerts during five visits—and made these career-launching recordings. Along with stereo and mono versions of rock ’n’ roll songs recorded with Tony Sheridan, this 2-CD set includes such Beatles-only relics as “Ain’t She Sweet,” sung by John Lennon, and George Harrison’s instrumental “Cry For a Shadow.” A photo-filled color booklet rounds out the package.

The most commercially successful songwriter in popular music, Paul McCartney could be forgiven if he chose to rest on his laurels. He has sold an astonishing 100 million solo singles and 700 million albums worldwide. But McCartney, who got engaged to Nancy Shevell on May 6 and turns 69 on June 18, shows no signs of letting up. He has two new albums planned for this year: a rock record and a collection of pop standards. Meanwhile, McCartney has been busy reissuing his past catalogue, including his last year’s re-release of Band on the Run. The latest installments in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection are McCartney and McCartney II, his first and third solo albums respectively. Both come in...

It’s been a decade since Steve Jobs, the man behind Apple and a huge Beatles fan, first tried to make Beatles music available through iTunes, the world’s largest music retailer. Now, after much legal wrangling, digital versions of songs like “Let it Be” and “Here Comes the Sun” and albums such as Abbey Road and Rubber Soul are finally available and are outselling the latest Rihanna single and Glee soundtracks. Once again, the Fab Four are the “toppermost of the poppermost,” as John Lennon once cheekily proclaimed.

Sir Paul’s most celebrated post-Beatles work is the latest album to get the lavish reissue treatment. Available now as a single, remastered CD, featuring fan favorites like the soaring “Jet,” the slow-burning “Let Me Roll It” and the sweeping epic title track, or special and deluxe edition formats that include audio and DVD bonus material, the reissue reminds us how much the landmark album, recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, was a triumph over adversity—including the knifepoint mugging of Paul and wife Linda.