In a deep depression, she canceled more engagements than she kept. There was a large gap between her recording sessions for Soul ‘69 and work on her eighth Atlantic album, This Girl’s in Love with You. Fortunately there were enough cuts “in the can” from her last sessions for Aretha Now and Soul ‘69 to provide Atlantic with single releases to carry them through the middle of the year. Aretha’s Gold bought the company some additional time, while Aretha maintained a low profile and sorted out her personal life. Muscle Shoals musician Jimmy Johnson recalls the problems Ted White caused in the studio, and Aretha’s mental state at that time. “When we started working with her,” says Johnson, “of course Ted was there. And I always felt that he was pretty much jealous of anybody that would get close to her except for him and her immediate family members. I remember when she went through breakups with him. The final break-up—I remember she was highly depressed and we’d come up to New York for the session, and maybe she wouldn’t show for the session.
