albums in 1981. Merger with Elektra Records Asylum was taken over by Warner Communications in 1973 and merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records. David Geffen and Elliot Roberts each received $2 million in cash and $5 million in Warner Communications stock, thereby becoming two of the company's largest shareholders. Geffen served as president and chairman of Elektra/Asylum Records until 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named vice-chairman of Warner Bros. One of Asylum's most prominent signings after Geffen's departure was Warren Zevon, who released a series of successful and critically acclaimed LPs for the label; his self-titled 1976 label debut has been called the best California rock album of the decade. By the early 1980s, although the copyright lines on albums still read "Elektra/Asylum Records" or "Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records", Elektra was becoming the more prominent of the two labels with Asylum turning into a secondary imprint. By the middle of the decade, the company was unofficially calling itself Elektra Records, and in 1989 it was renamed Elektra Entertainment. By this time Asylum's remaining acts had been shifted to the Elektra roster, although catalog recordings and reissues continued to be sold with the Asylum label on them. Country format Asylum was reformatted into a country music label, still operated by Elektra, in 1992. Under the new format, Asylum scored successful recordings by such acts as Emmylou Harris, Brother Phelps, Thrasher Shiver, Kevin Sharp, Bryan White, and Lila McCann. They also produced many critically acclaimed albums by artists such as Mandy Barnett, Guy Clark, The Cox Family, Bob Woodruff, John Douglas Myers (JD Myers) and Jamie Hartford. By the end of the decade, however, mismanagement and a lack of promotion money led to the dissolution of the Asylum country label. In 2003, Mike Curb, head of Curb Records, revived the Nashville division of Asylum, forming a new label known as Asylum-Curb. LeAnn Rimes, Clay Walker, Lee Brice, Rio Grand, Hank Williams, Jr. and Wynonna were among the artists on the Asylum-Curb division. Relaunch After being dormant for several years, Asylum Records was revived as an urban music-based label in 2004, with some of its releases distributed in conjunction with Warner Bros. Records and others through Atlantic Records. In 2006, WMG shifted Asylum to operate under their newly created Independent Label Group, which also comprises Cordless Recordings and East West Records. In December 2006, Asylum Records announced the signing