''Dynamite'' is the third and last collaborative

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

between labelmates

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

and

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, released on the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

label in 1971. The album was a collection of material recorded for the Magnificent Seven albums, but which had not been included on either of those two albums. The cover artwork was an illustration based on photo sessions from the ''Return of the Magnificent Seven'' album artwork. In the US, ''Dynamite'' was as commercially unsuccessful as '' The Magnificent 7'' (1970) and ''

The Return of the Magnificent Seven ''The Return of the Magnificent Seven'' is the second collaborative album between Motown label-mates The Supremes and Four Tops, released in 1971. The production only featured two covers compared to their first album together, '' The Magnificent ...

'' (1971), peaking at the lower hundreds of the ''Billboard'' Top 200. The album fared much better on the ''Billboard'' R&B charts, peaking at 21. It includes several covers of previous hits and a few Motown originals. It opens with " It's Impossible", which had been a hit in Spanish as "Somos novios", for its composer Armando Manzanero, and later successfully covered by

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

and R&B group New Birth. Two of the cuts, "

Hello Stranger "Hello Stranger" is a 1963 hit single by Barbara Lewis, which spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in ''Billboard'', crossing over to #3 on the pop chart. Original version "Hello Stranger" was written by Barbara Lewis herself, ...

" and "

Love the One You're With "Love the One You're With" is a song by folk rock musician Stephen Stills. It was released as the lead single from his debut self-titled studio album in November 1970. The song, inspired by a remark Stills heard from musician Billy Preston, beca ...

", had also been hits for their composers, respectively Barbara Lewis and

Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has com ...

, while the group

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

reached the top of the Easy Listening chart with " If", and both

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

and

The Ones The Ones are an American electronic dance music group. Their 2001 hit single " Flawless" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Belgium and the United Kingdom. The trio consisted of three male vocalists Paul Alexander, JoJo Americo, and ...

had moderate successes with Franklin's composition "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream". Of the Motown material the album producers chose two mild hits by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and Tammi Terrell, "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" and " Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By"; "Do You Love Me Just a Little, Honey", a song co-written by Gladys Knight,

Johnny Bristol John William Bristol (February 3, 1939 – March 21, 2004) was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina, about which ...

, Harvey Fuqua and Vernon Bullock; plus two compositions by Mel Larson and Jerry Marcellino: "Melodie", which had been recorded the same year by Bobby Darin, and "The Bigger You Love (The Harder You Fall)". No singles were picked up in the United States, but one of the favorite original compositions, "Melodie" (with "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By" on the flip side), was released in New Zealand. A year later, the Four Tops parted from Motown to sign with

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

(today, the catalogs of both ABC and Motown are owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

Track listing

Side One #" It's Impossible" ( Armando Manzanero, Sid Wayne) #*Produced by Frank Wilson and Bobby Taylor #"The Bigger You Love (The Harder You Fall)" (Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson) #*Produced by Frank Wilson and Bobby Taylor #"

" ( Barbara Lewis) #*Produced by Frank Wilson and Bobby Taylor #"

" (

) #*Produced by Frank Wilson and Bobby Taylor #" Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By" ( Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) #*Produced by Bobby Taylor Side Two #"Melodie" ( Deke Richards, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson) #*Produced by Frank Wilson and Bobby Taylor #" If" (

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (December 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was a American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts i ...

) #*Produced by Bobby Taylor #"

If I Could Build My Whole World Around You "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" is a popular song recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967 and released in November 14, 1967. Written by Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, and Vernon Bullock, the single was Gaye & Terrell's thi ...

" ( Harvey Fuqua,

, Vernon Bullock) #*Produced by Johnny Bristol #"Don't Let Me Lose This Dream" (

, Ted White) #*Produced by Joe Hinton #"Do You Love Me Just a Little, Honey" ( Gladys Knight, Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, Vernon Bullock) #*Produced by Johnny Bristol

Personnel

( Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson,

Cindy Birdsong Cynthia Ann Birdsong (born December 15, 1939) is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Blueb ...

(

Levi Stubbs Levi Stubbs (born Levi Stubbles, June 6, 1936 – October 17, 2008) was an American baritone singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the R&B group the Four Tops, who released a variety of Motown hit records during the 1960s and 1970s. He has b ...

Duke Fakir Abdul Kareem Fakir (born December 26, 1935), stage name, professionally known as Duke Fakir, is an American singer. He is a founding member of the Motown quartet the Four Tops, from 1953 to the present day. A first tenor, Fakir is the group's lo ...

Obie Benson The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

Lawrence Payton Lawrence Albert Payton (March 2, 1938 – June 20, 1997) was an American tenor, songwriter, vocal arranger, musician, and record producer for the popular Motown quartet, the Four Tops. In 1997, at 59 years old, Payton died of liver cancer. Bio ...

) - vocals *

David Van DePitte David J. Van De Pitte (October 28, 1941 – August 9, 2009) was an American music arranger and bass player. He is best known for his work at Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was responsible for arranging many of the b ...

, Gene Page, H.B. Barnum, Robert White - arrangers *

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

- instrumentation *Curtis McNair - art direction *Warren Linn - illustration *Tom Schlesinger - graphics

Chart history

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums Covers albums The Supremes albums Four Tops albums Collaborative albums Albums arranged by H. B. Barnum Albums arranged by Gene Page Albums produced by Frank Wilson (musician) Motown albums