Ted White (manager)

Theodore Richard White (born March 25, 1931) is an American businessman, songwriter, and producer. White is better known as the manager and first husband of soul singer Aretha Franklin. As a songwriter, White wrote or co-wrote numerous songs for Franklin, including "I Wonder (Where You Are Tonight)", "Lee Cross", "Dr. Feelgood", and "Think".
Life and career.
White was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 25, 1931. He was described by "Time" magazine in 1968 as "a former dabbler in Detroit real estate and a street-corner wheeler-dealer." He also owned a chain of jukeboxes. White told "Ebony" in 1967 that he was a sandlot promoter before he took over managing the career of singer Aretha Franklin in 1961.
White was introduced to Franklin by singer Della Reese at the Twenty Grand Club in Detroit. After a few weeks of dating, they were married by a justice of the peace while touring Ohio in 1961, when Franklin was 18 and White was 30. Franklin's father C.L. Franklin opposed of the union. Family and friends were skeptical of Franklin's association with White and felt his shady dealings would hurt her career. Motown producer Harvey Fuqua stated: "Anyone who didn't see Ted White as a straight-up pimp had to be deaf, dumb, and blind. . . . It took someone that slick to get a great talent like Aretha in his stable."
In 1964, White formed the record label Ston-Roc and produced the single "Talking About the People" / "Don't Ever Leave Me" by Tony & Tyrone. That year, Franklin recorded "Lee Cross" written by White, but it was released as a single by singer Walter Jackson instead. Franklin's version wasn't released until the album "Take It Like You Give It" in 1967. By that time, Frankllin had parted ways with her first label Columbia Records and White negotiated a deal with Atlantic Records. White and Franklin co-wrote "Dr. Feelgood" and "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream" from her 1967 album "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You". Both of which have been covered by various artists. They also co-wrote a few songs from her albums "Lady Soul" (1968) and "Aretha Now" (1968) before their separation.
After White and Franklin separated in 1968, her brother Cecil Franklin took over managing her career. Her divorce from White was finalized in 1969. White was reportedly abusive during their marriage. According to a 1968 "Time" magazine story, White "roughed her up in public at Atlanta's Regency Hyatt House Hotel." Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson told "Time" that wasn't the first incident which White was violent towards Franklin. Additionally, David Ritz, author of the 2014 biography "Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin", wrote that "ugly physical fights were not unusual" between them.
During their union they had one son together, Ted "Teddy" White Jr., born 1964. After the divorce, Teddy was largely raised by his father's family in Oak Park, Michigan. He spent holidays and weekends with his mother in Detroit. He played guitar for his mother before becoming a singer-songwriter, going by the name Teddy Richards.