Grosvenor was the commercial label of the long-lived Hollick & Taylor Studios, which operated from premises in Grosvenor Road, Handsworth, Birmingham. The studios were owned and run by John and Jean Taylor, in later years with the assistance of their sons, Christopher and Richard. 'Record Retailer' of the 18th of July 1970 reported that the first release on Grosvenor was to be an EP featuring material from the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of 'A Winter's Tale'; it was numbered GR-1000, and according to the sleeve it was pressed by a company called Industrial Commercial Plastics (1). Subsequent albums, EPs and singles appear to have shared the same numerical series, with a slightly changed prefix: GRS instead of GR. EPs had an '/EP' after the GRS. The vast majority of subsequent Grosvenor releases were LPs, though the occasional single and EP slipped out; the discography below seems pretty well complete as far as 7" records from the years 1970-84 are concerned. A lot of organ music featured in the catalogue, though brass bands and handbell groups also appeared; according to 'Music Week' of the 26th of May 1973 the company's policy was to release only material that had been carefully chosen to guarantee a 'significant return'. The label came in several different colours - there were silver-on-yellow and silver-on-red ones as well as the four types shown above - but the design remained the same. Grosvenor lasted into the CD era, but it went dormant in 2003, when Mr. and Mrs. Taylor retired. There was an associated label, 'Hollick and Taylor' (q.v.), which was used for custom recordings. Manufacture of most of the Grosvenors that I have seen in the vinyl was by Decca; distribution was via a combination of H.R. Taylor and mail order until the middle of 1973, when the records became also available through Lugtons.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.