Comments
About
The Original Ash Grove
"The Ash Grove
was where teenagers like Ry Cooder and Jackson Browne could interact
with legendary performers such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Brownie McGhee
and Albert Collins. Over the years, hundreds of artists appeared
there, ranging from New Orleans zydeco master Clifton Chenier
to Jim Croce, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Cash, Howlin' Wolf and the
Byrds.
-Jeff Spurrier
and Steve Hochman Los Angeles Times
"On his
way out of the club one night, Mick Jagger, a frequent visitor
to the Ash Grove, shook Pearl's hand in gratitude. He simply wanted
to thank Pearl for all the entertainment-and no doubt musical
education-the club had given him. - a gesture a lot of us should
make. The Ash Grove's contribution to this city's musical heritage
was invaluable."
-Robert
Hilburn Los Angeles Times (
Dec 15, 1973 )
"It looms large
in my history because that is where I met Roger McGuinn. If there had
been no Ash Grove, there would have been no Byrds. "
-David Crosby
NPR interview
"My goal in those
days was just to play the Ash Grove in Los Angeles because that was
the center of folk music at the time... The first place I went in Los
Angeles was the Ash Grove. That is where I met Kenny Edwards. Kenny
liked Mexican music and we started the Stone Ponys.
-Linda Ronstadt
interview by Robert Hilburn
Los Angeles Times
"Hammond loved
Ed Pearl's Ash Grove and returned there often, including one memorable
visit in 1965. After closing out his set with Robert Johnson's
'Terraplane Blues,' Hammond walked backstage, where the middle-aged
headliner growled at him, 'Come here and sit down. Where the f
did you learn to play that?' He wasn't the first to wonder how a white
boy like Hammond came to sound like Robert Johnson reincarnated, but
at close to 300 pounds, Howling' Wolf was surely the most massive to
ever pose the question. After Hammond explained he 'd taught himself
the song by listening to the record, Wolf demanded he play it again
for him 'right now.' Afterward, Hammond remembers Wolf said, 'Man, that
is evil. "
-John Hammond,
Jr.
Interviewed by Alice Echols
LA Weekly
"Ed Pearl is
one of the most creative and thoughtful people who have ever presented
folk music in the U.S.A. His new project at the new Ash Grove should
be exactly what musical America needs-a place where people of different
backgrounds can learn about each other through their music. "
-Pete Seeger
