Album liner notes:
Incredible! Impossible! In! Those were a few of the reactions of people when they heard about a show with teenagers entitled FOR MATURE ADULTS ONLY! You can thank a teenager for that title! Who ever heard of trying to bridge a generation gap by letting the teenager have his own say about life and faith and love? Who ever heard of a professor of theology loving teenager poetry and reading it in public? Who ever heard of a coffee house on stage? All of these improbable situations were part of the experiment in youth communication entitled FOR MATURE ADULTS ONLY. We wanted the teenager to be heard. So we collected poems, cries, prayers and words of teenagers across the country. We met kids like Debbie, Mike, Jan and their friends. Then we let them be heard and felt in the show. The show was first presented in the auditorium of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in March of 1968. The response was so dramatic that the International Walther League invited the cast to appear at it's Convention in August, 1968. Mosann Enterprises then offered to record and promote major portions of the show for the benefit of youth groups across the country.
MP3:
01 The Martin Luther High School Chorus and Norman Habel - For Mature Adults Only (2:09)
02 Norman Habel - Juan (1:23)
03 Don Hunter - Listen (Juan's Song) (2:33)
04 Norman Habel - Tim (1:22)
05 Robert Edwin - Black Shadows (Tim's Song) (2:23)
06 Norman Habel - Michelle (2:15)
07 Corky Hale - Tomorrow Calls (Michelle's Song) (2:53)
08 Norman Habel - Mike (1:31)
09 Robert Edwin - Christ Is Changing Everything (2:36)
10 Norman Habel - Jan (1:03)
11 Corky Hale - One Little Piece Of Mystery (3:03)
12 Norman Habel - Willie (2:02)
13 Don Hunter - Adam Was A Man (2:34)
14 Norman Habel - Debbie's Song (2:46)
I parted with this record a number of years ago but was able to find an image online of the front cover. I also remember seeing another version of the cover being adorned with photos of the performers and brief text years ago but never picked that one up. On the 2003 run of 365 Days the title track (#1) and Michelle (#7) were featured.
- Contributed by: Otis Fodder
Image: Front Cover
Media: LP
Album: For Mature Adults Only
Label: Fortress
Catalog: 768
Date: 1968
Credits: Dr. Norman Habel, Narrator
The Martin Luther High School Choir (Long Island)
Richard Koehneke, Piano
Joe Newman, Trumpet
Chuck Raney, Guitar
Eric Gale, Bass
David Dahline, Drums
Larry Mohr, Saxophone
Corky Hale, Harpist (on Michelle)
Track one, no mp3 :(
Posted by: Dr. Benway | September 30, 2007 at 02:40 AM
Hopefully I haven't given away the book. Meanwhile, track one isn't in mp3 format or anything that'll let me download it.
Posted by: TenshiKurai9 | September 30, 2007 at 07:54 AM
Track one is not linked properly and cannot be downloaded.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 30, 2007 at 10:36 AM
I fixed up track one. Thanks for alerting us to the problem.
Posted by: Station Manager Ken | September 30, 2007 at 11:03 AM
"Christ is Changing Everything" is one of my favorite, catchy Christian songs. And, lo, I did not know it was from this musical. Thanks!
Posted by: Resident Clinton | October 03, 2007 at 07:32 AM
You probably already know this, audio nerds but some of the players on this are very famous in the realm
of studio work...
Especially Eric Gale, who passed in 1994...
He's credited with contributions to a slew of famous recordings and artists...
Eric Gale: Aretha Franklin, Maxine Brown, the Drifters, and Jesse Belvin. He soon began to attract the attention of King Curtis and Jimmy Smith, who began recommending him for studio work. He became known first as a session musician in the 1960s, eventually appearing on an estimated 500 albums. Among the many artists he recorded with were Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Lena Horne, Quincy Jones, Grover Washington Jr., Herbie Mann, Esther Phillips, Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, and Billy Joel. He also had a spell in Aretha Franklin's stage band.
Chuck Raney: Little Richard, Steely Dan, Jeff Pocaro, Sergio Mendes, Merl Saunders [Grateful Dead Family], Wilton Felder [Crusaders] and a zillion more...
Not sure if Chuck's name is also spelled Rainey as it is linked with Eric Gale's many more times than the Raney spelling???
Would be difficult to believe he knew 2 Chuck's with such similar names...
Posted by: L/V | October 16, 2007 at 03:13 PM
i just picked up a copy of this, but it has a different cover than the one you have pictured. it's just some b&w silouhettes of teenagers.
Posted by: pea hix | November 07, 2007 at 10:12 PM
I am very surprised to see this here. I spent over 10 years looking for the album. I just had a cassette recording of it from a record my girlfriend's family had. I first heard this album in 1977. My girlfriend's family knew Dr. Habel as her father also attended Concordia Seminary. I found the album from Otis Fodder. He sent it to me only wanting some music from Franciose Hardy. It is just funny how small the world is and that after years of looking for the album which is a very rare thing to find since only a few of them were made, that now you can just listen to it over the internet. After 30 years since I first heard this album it still moves me. I met Dr. Habel back in 1978.
Posted by: Chuck Blackwell | December 16, 2007 at 03:09 AM
I'm gratified and surprised that FMAO still interests people. The bassist, Chuck Rainey, probably became the most celebrated of the musicians, literally redefining the use of bass in pop music and jazz. For more, see http://www.chuckrainey.com/ Chuck and Eric were the backbone of Aretha Franklin's early superhits. The songs by Norm and Rich were the basis of the book I wrote for Long Island productions of the multimedia musical. I'm told that several New York producers were quite interested but found it "too religious." Later that year, "Jesus Christ Superstar" hit like an explosion. Who knew? It was way ahead of its time. The session was made in the New York 23rd St. studio where Elvis recorded his first RCA hits. It is now gone, replaced by part of Baruch/CUNY.
Posted by: Lawrence (Larry) Mohr | July 15, 2010 at 08:41 PM