Chris M Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Someone mentioned Violet May in another Thread. I spent most Saturday mornings in the late 60's early 70's trawling round all the second hand record shops and market stalls around town. One of my haunts was Violet's store at the back of the Moor (I did visit her old shop a few times down near what is now Castle Square) What a place - never mind the records the banter between the punters and Violet was priceless. She was a wily old bird - although she often miscalculated the value of some of the Soul imports/demos she had in the shop - so I picked up some bargains. Who was the old guy who worked there - he was on other planet most of the time. She once had a float in the Lord Mayors Parade and sat in a rocking chair at the back of the truck. I presume Violet is no longer with us. Happy Days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiffy Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 Hi Chris, I remember as a kid when my sister wanted a particular record as she had joined the school choir and needed to rehearse at home. So for a few weeks we trudged down the moor to Violet May's shop and although we never got the record we enjoyed browsing without any hassle from staff. Great days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushbaby Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 I managed to get "Breaking Down The Walls of Heartache" by Edwin Starr on Import, from Violet's. It was for the Youth Club's Northern Soul Disco. I liked it in there as browsing was welcomed. Lots of Jazz freaks in striped jerseys talking about Brubeck and the Newport Jazzz Festival. It was where I first heard of Billie Holliday, who I'm now a big fan of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopT Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Memories came flooding back when I read the letters with comments about Violet May. As a young teenagerI used to go to her record shops in the early days searching for jazz records. One shop was on South Street opposite the Old Corn Exchange opposite the bottom of the old Rag and Tag market. She moved to a shop on City Road above Bernard Street. Later she moved to a corner shop at the back of the Moor near the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant. She used a cigarette holder to smoke her cigarettes and seemed to have quite a collection of them, everytime I saw her she had a different one. She attended all the jazz concerts at the City Hall and cut quite a figure dressed in long dresses and smoking from a very long cigarette holder. She knew most of the musicians and her knowledge of jazz music was extensive. I remember her guiding my choice of records knowing what little money I could afford and Ithank her for developing my education in the music. I once picked up two metal master cut recordings of Charlie Parker from her shop on City Road only to sell them back the following Saturday. At that young age I was disillusioned with them as they contained lots of false starts and stops. Little did I know that this was normal for 'The Bird', any jazz fan today would give his high teeth for those two unique recordings today. Does anyone else remember this Sheffield character and the early jazz days in Sheffield? Pop T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madgeca Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I was a 'Saturday girl' at Violet Mays back in the early 60's my moms neighbour Alan Simmonite got me the job (which ~Igot sacked from. I was a lazy little bxxxx back then.) happy days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenfleece Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I recall the shop well, used to search for back catalogue old 45's when I was a DJ.....Violet ALWAYS had copies of everything that had ever been in the charts in the 50's and 60's. The shop was piled to the roof with brown wooden boxes crammed with 45's, with the name of the label on the front of the box. She used to puff away at her fags in real chain smoking style, the whole shop was a fog of smoke at the best of times......but what at atmosphere and great customer service. Saturday mornings at the shop were an essential part of life for any DJ in the 70's who wanted to complete their oldies record cases. She was a bit bad at adding up though and always got everything dirt cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojoworking Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I was a regular at Violet's in the mid to late 60s when the shop was opposite the Rag market. I picked up loads of gems there, but the one I recall most strongly was a 10" LP by Jesse Fuller. I don't suppose many people have heard of him. He was a one-man-band blues singer. Donovan had namedropped him in a magazine interview, so I decided to check him out. Paul McCartney later recorded one of his songs (San Francisco Bay Blues) on his Unplugged album. Speaking of Macca... I happened to be in Violet's shop in 1968 during the week that Hey Jude came out. It was playing continually on the little record player she had in the corner (the release of a new Beatles' single was a major event back then) and I couldn't help eavesdropping on Violet's conversation with another customer while I was browsing the racks. They were talking about Hey Jude (among other things) and Violet opined very loudly that it was "their best record yet". As usual, she was spot on. Good old Violet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetdexter Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Alas , I missed out on Violet May's shop. I am a big jazz fan since 54 ,but I am afraid the shop is not in my memory bank. From all the descriptions, I really missed something . Glad to see Bushbaby is a Lady Day fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopman Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 I was saddened to learn a few years ago of the death of Violet May ---- . The atricle mentioned her surname - May was her middle name. The shop was a part of history, an outpost of individuality which we never appreciated at the time. Nowadays, city centres are so similar. Walk down any street and see the names of the shops, are you sure that you're back in Sheffield, or could it be anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60s_chick Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I was leafing throught the postings on the forum reliving my past at the Buccaneer, Down Broadway, the Chapel Walk Coffe bar and thinking about Hendrix and Nice and Family at the City Hall when I suddenly thought of Violet May and then I stumbled on this post. I remember buying Billly Holiday records and I still have a vinyl copy of Bessie Smith recorded in 1936 which I got from Violet's. I used to work Saturdays in a record shop in Mexborough but we only got new stuff. Viloets May's was like an Alladin's cave. I guess the younger one's will have some difficulty imagining Sheffield as such a happening place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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