The long talked-about covers album by Crosby, Stills & Nash may be history as the trio has announced that they have split from both Columbia Records and producer (and co-president of Columbia) Rick Rubin.

The project has been in the works for almost two years and has seen a number of setbacks including group members being unsure of the viability of the tracks they had recorded and difficulty in working with Rubin because of his other producing projects and his executive work.

Radio stations WMMR in Philadelphia also reported that they talked to Graham Nash this past fall and he indicated that the recording of the album was definitely not going smoothly.

"We did about three days with Rick Rubin to try and feel each other out and see if we enjoyed working with each other. We cut four things. . . CSN and I don't think Rick thinks that we have the take of any one of them. So it was three days in Shangri-La studios and another studio in Hollywood to try and feel out what was going on. Y'know, whether we liked this guy, or whether he likes us, or whether we can fit together musically and stuff. But we're seriously going to start on Monday."

In a statement, CSN simply said "We have amicably parted ways with both Rick Rubin and Columbia."