James Paul McCartney (TV special) ATV network in order to settle his two-year legal dispute with Sir Lew Grade. As the owner of the network and its music publishing division – and, by extension, the Beatles' Northern Songs catalogue – Grade had objected to McCartney crediting his wife Linda as his co-writer since 1971, citing her lack of professional experience as a songwriter and musician. McCartney's commitment to the television project allowed him to retain the second composer's publishing royalties, which otherwise would have been assigned to Grade's company. "James Paul McCartney" was McCartney's first such special since the Beatles' 1967 television film "Magical Mystery
Paul McCartney and Wings consecutive albums topping the US charts. Paul McCartney was unquestionably Wings' leader and dominant creative force, but Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Linda McCartney all contributed in songwriting, and Laine, McCulloch, Joe English, and Linda McCartney all performed lead vocals. The success of Wings was a vindication for McCartney. His first few post-Beatles albums were highly criticized and often dismissed by critics as "lightweight" next to the more serious nature of his former bandmates' solo output. But by the mid-1970s, the solo careers of the other three former Beatles were in varying degrees of decline, with John Lennon putting his