Pure Dynamite! Live At The Royal is a 1964 live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 by James Brown

James Brown

James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

and The Famous Flames

The Famous Flames

The Famous Flames was an R&B vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd that recorded and performed with James Brown during the early years of his career...

originally issued on King Records

King Records (USA)

King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a...

. It was the live follow-up to Brown's million-selling 1963 Live at the Apollo LP, and like that album, reached the Top 10 of the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

album charts, peaking at #10. It was recorded live at the Royal Theatre

Royal Theatre (Baltimore)

The Royal Theatre, which first opened in 1922 as the black-owned Douglass Theatre, was the most famous theater along West Baltimore City's Pennsylvania Avenue, one of a circuit of five such theaters for black entertainment in big cities...

 in Baltimore, Maryland, a popular venue for R&B artists of the day. The album takes its title from Brown's most famous nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 at the time, "Mr. Dynamite".
Although most of Pure Dynamite! is live, it contains one non-live studio track, the extended-length song "Oh Baby, Don't You Weep

Oh Baby, Don't You Weep

"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" is a song recorded in 1964 by James Brown and The Famous Flames. Based upon the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep", it was released as a two-part single on King Records K5842 and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States....

", which was the group's then-current hit release. Dubbed

Overdubbing

Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....

-in crowd noise was added to simulate a live recording.

Pure Dynamite! features live versions of the singles

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 Brown had released since the Apollo LP. It opens with "Shout and Shimmy

Shout and Shimmy

"Shout and Shimmy" is an R&B song written by James Brown, and recorded by him and The Famous Flames. It rose to #16 on the R&B chart and #61 on the Billboard Hot 100....

" (Billboard Pop #61, R&B #16) which features a comedy skit between James and Famous Flames member Bobby Bennett, and continues with the standard "These Foolish Things

These Foolish Things

These Foolish Things is a 1973 album by Bryan Ferry, containing cover versions of standard songs. It was his first solo effort, still being Roxy Music's lead singer...

", (which was a charting single for the group the previous year; Billboard Pop #55, R&B #25), "Like a Baby", another charting standard (#24 R&B, also from '63), and "Signed, Sealed, And Delivered" (not the Stevie Wonder song; #77 Pop), also from '63. Side 1 closes with "I'll Never Never Let You Go", another charting single from the group's 1960 Think L.P. Side Two features Brown's signature hit, the million-selling "Please, Please, Please

Please, Please, Please

"Please, Please, Please" is an R&B song written by James Brown and Johnny Terry and recorded by Brown and The Flames. Released in 1956 as a single on the Cincinnati, Ohio-based label Federal Records, it was Brown's first professional recording and his first hit, eventually selling over a million...

", the aforementioned "Oh Baby Don't You Weep" (#23 Pop), and closes with the group's 1959 single "Good Good Lovin'", all delivered to an enthusiastic audience response.

The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd

Bobby Byrd

Bobby Byrd born Robert Howard Byrd was an American funk/soul/R&B/gospel musician, songwriter and record producer. He was born in Toccoa, Georgia, and is a 1998 winner of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's prestigious Pioneer Award...

, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) play an important co-starring role on Pure Dynamite!. Although they did not receive billing on the album's label or cover, this is one of the few James Brown albums where the Flames can actually be seen in the cover photograph. But the photo is misleading: only two of the Flames are visible, partially obscured, and it was clearly taken at the Apollo Theater

Apollo Theater

The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, not at the Royal. The Flames are pictured with Brown on the original album insert's liner notes, and are included with Brown in the album's intro.

Pure Dynamite! has been reissue

Reissue

A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....

d on CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 by Polydor at least twice, but mostly for markets outside the United States.

Track listing

Personnel

James Brown & The Famous Flames :

• James Brown
  James Brown
  James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
  
   - lead vocals
• Bobby Byrd
  Bobby Byrd
  Bobby Byrd born Robert Howard Byrd was an American funk/soul/R&B/gospel musician, songwriter and record producer. He was born in Toccoa, Georgia, and is a 1998 winner of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's prestigious Pioneer Award...
  
  Baritone/Bass
• Bobby Bennett 2nd Tenor
• Lloyd Stallworth 1st Tenor

Music: The James Brown Band.