David Crosby has sold a majority stake in his publishing to Iconic Artists Group, according to Rolling Stone. The news comes only week after the it being announced that Iconic, which is owned by music mogul Irving Azoff, has acquired a majority stake in the Beach Boys' assets.
No dollar amount or details were given for the Crosby deal, but it covers his work as part of the Byrds; Crosby, Stills, & Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young; Crosby & Nash, along with all his solo creations.
David Crosby said in a statement: "Given our current inability to work live, this deal is a blessing for me and my family and I do believe these are the best people to do it with."
Iconic plans to release a 50th anniversary edition of Crosby's 1971 solo debut, If I Could Only Remember My Name. In a new chat with The Los Angeles Times, "Croz" spoke about the legendary album's sessions, which found him still reeling from the car crash that took the life of his lover, Christine Hinton. He said it was his friends who got him through the agony: "I was trying to stay alive. It was that desperate. And there were these people, my friends. Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia. Good people. At that time, (Graham) Nash, too. And they came, Garcia particularly, almost every night, and worked on those songs with me."
He went on to say, "Jerry Garcia was probably the single largest influence on (the album). I don't remember us talking about Christine, or the fact that I was sad or overwhelmed. But I know that he knew. He was sensitive and very intelligent, and he knew what I was going through. He showed up every night because he knew that that was going to save my f***ing life."
When we last caught up with David Crosby, we asked him to describe what he thinks are the key elements to his best songs: ["There's a certain kind of song — 'tends to be ballad-y, mid-tempo song. Very personal and slightly mysterious lyrics, with dense and contrapuntal harmonies."] SOUNDCUE (:10 OC: . . . and contrapuntal harmonies)
David Crosby told us that his songwriting is a natural extension of his heart and mind: ["A sense of humor is necessary to stay alive and a sense of what do you love, what do you care about, what really has worth in this life. And I wind up writin' about that. There are things I'm very angry about — I wind up writin' about those."] SOUNDCUE (:16 OC: . . . writin' about those)