The short-lived Sheffield club that launched Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix
555 Pitsmoor Road in Sheffield is not the likeliest of all places to play host to an insurgent American musical revolution.
But in the 1960s, amid a tidal wave of British rock and roll that the mainstream would have you believe took over the scene in its entirety, the country had not completely forgotten about its transatlantic friend. The King Mojo Club in Sheffield was the true manifestation of this statement, showing that some star-spangled soul was never far from view.
The club arrived at a time when northern soul was beginning to develop its burgeoning voice and, most obviously, Yorkshire was the absolute epicentre of everything it would go on to become. Yet between the years of 1964 and 1967, the focus for owner Peter Stringfellow and his brothers was on importing the very best rising talent the States had to offer.
It might have seemed like a stab in the dark given that Sheffield feels a million miles from the heights of the Motown headquarters, but if the Stringfellows’ bookings were done purely on guesswork, they had a pretty incredible aim. Future superstars, including the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, and even Jimi Hendrix, all graced its stage.
Perhaps contrary to popular belief, the King Mojo was not the place you would go for a heavy night and even blearier eyes the next day. In the end, it never even got granted its alcohol licence and only served as a coffee bar. However, intoxication was the last thing anyone really needed.
Within these walls where the rhythm pulsed, and the music flowed, there was no need for anything else except the searing reality of the moment to lift you up. In the mid-1960s, these may have been the stars of tomorrow, but it wouldn’t take long at all until all that would change, and the landscape was upended in favour of that very same soul revolution.
However, between the Stateside heights of Geno Washington, Wilson Pickett, and Edwin Starr, all making it to the stage of the King Mojo, they never forgot the true wealth of talent that sat just at their door. Pink Floyd and the Small Faces first broadened their northern horizons through the club.
On top of that, The Kinks even managed to work out the arrangement of ‘All Day and All of the Night’ while sitting in the space. There must have been some certain magic in the air. The ironic thing was, however, that the club opened its doors in 1964 and only lasted until 1967; it wasn’t a long time to make such an indelible impression on the scene.
Yet if you were to ask anyone who was around Sheffield at the time, or indeed any of the artists who performed there, they would probably all say that every road leads back to the King Mojo in terms of its impact on the northern soul scene and what it did to raise the American profile. Pitsmoor might not be the beating heart of the world, but soul lovers everywhere will always be grateful.
