Editing Sarah Vaughan (section)

===1959–1969: Atkins and Roulette ===
The exit of Treadwell from Vaughan's life was precipitated by the entry of Clyde "C.B." Atkins, a man of uncertain background whom she had met in Chicago and married on September 4, 1958.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://northjersey.newspapers.com/article/the-news/38628111 |title=Singer Sarah Vaughan Sued for Limited Divorce |date=March 27, 1963 |website=North Jersey Newspapers |access-date=November 21, 2023}}</ref> Although Atkins had no experience in artist management or music, Vaughan wished to have a mixed professional and personal relationship like the one she had with Treadwell. She made Atkins her manager, although she was still feeling the sting of the problems she had with Treadwell and initially kept a closer eye on Atkins. Vaughan and Atkins moved into a house in [[Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey]].<ref name="sassy" />

When Vaughan's contract with Mercury ended in late 1959, she signed on with Roulette, a small label owned by [[Morris Levy]], who was one of the backers of [[Birdland (New York jazz club)|Birdland]], where she frequently appeared. She began recording for Roulette in April 1960, making a string of large ensemble albums arranged or conducted by [[Billy May]], [[Jimmy Jones (pianist)|Jimmy Jones]], [[Joe Reisman]], [[Quincy Jones]], [[Benny Carter]], [[Lalo Schifrin]], and [[Gerald Wilson]]. She had pop chart success in 1960 with "Serenata" on Roulette and "Eternally" and "You're My Baby", a couple of residual tracks from her Mercury contract. She recorded ''[[After Hours (1961 Sarah Vaughan album)|After Hours]]'' (1961) with guitarist [[Mundell Lowe]] and double bassist [[George Duvivier]] and ''[[Sarah + 2]]'' (1962) with guitarist [[Barney Kessel]] and double bassist [[Joe Comfort]].

In 1961, Vaughan and Atkins adopted a daughter, Deborah Lois Atkins, known professionally as Paris Vaughan. However, the relationship with Atkins proved difficult and violent. After several incidents, she filed for divorce in November 1963. She turned to two friends to help sort out the financial affairs of the marriage. Club owner John "Preacher" Wells, a childhood acquaintance, and Clyde "Pumpkin" Golden Jr. discovered that Atkins' gambling and spending had put Vaughan around $150,000 in debt. The Englewood Cliffs house was seized by the IRS for nonpayment of taxes. Vaughan retained custody of their child and Golden took Atkins' place as Vaughan's manager and lover for the remainder of the decade.

When her contract with Roulette ended in 1963, Vaughan returned to the more familiar confines of Mercury. In the summer of 1963, she went to Denmark with producer Quincy Jones to record ''[[Sassy Swings the Tivoli]]'', an album of live performances with her trio. During the next year, she made her first appearance at the [[White House]] for President [[Lyndon Johnson]] and danced with the president afterwards.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Gardiner |title=The Underside of the Welcome Mat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/weekinreview/09harris.html?ref=weekinreview |access-date=3 May 2024 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=8 November 2008}}</ref> The Tivoli recording would be the brightest moment of her second stint with Mercury. Changing demographics and tastes in the 1960s left jazz musicians with shrinking audiences and inappropriate material. Although she retained a following large and loyal enough to maintain her career, the quality and quantity of her recorded output dwindled as her voice darkened and her skill remained undiminished. At the conclusion of her Mercury deal in 1967, she lacked a recording contract for the remainder of the decade.