Down but Never Out

When Aretha did decide to go back to the studio in 1969, she recorded the album This Girl's in Love with You. Aretha won a fourth Grammy for the song “Share Your Love with Me.” The album also included a love song she wrote, “Call Me,” which did very well on the charts. The song was based on her own recent experiences. She was falling in love again.

In the fall of 1969, Aretha again toured Europe. Her road manager on the tour was a successful businessman named Ken Cunningham (Aretha called him Wolf). Aretha and Ken worked well together, and their professional relationship became an important friendship in her life. Gradually, that friendship blossomed into a romance.

It had been close to a year since Aretha's divorce, and Ken was going through a divorce of his own. Ken had a deep respect for Aretha as both an artist and a human being. Aretha's romance with Ken was very different from her marriage to Ted White. She and Ken began living together in New York City. In 1970, she gave birth to their son, Kecalf (pronounced “Keif”). Kecalf's name was an acronym spelled from the initials of his father (K-E-C) and mother (A-L-F).