In its fifteen years of existence, the Ash Grove altered the music scene in Los Angeles and helped many artists find a West Coast audience.
The club was a locus of interaction between older folk and blues legends, such as Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Earl Hooker and Muddy Waters, and young artists that produced the 'Sixties music revolution.
Among those Pearl brought to the Ash Grove were Canned Heat, Doc Watson, Pete Seeger, Bill Monroe, June Carter, Johnny Cash, Jose Feliciano, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Hoyt Axton, Johnny Otis, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Ian and Sylvia, Kathy and Carol, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, New Lost City Ramblers, The Weavers, The Greenbriar Boys, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Lightnin' Hopkins, John P. Hammond, Luke "Long Gone" Miles, Barbara Dane, Holly Near, Arlo Guthrie, Rising Sons, Mance Lipscomb, Guy and Candie Carawan, John Jacob Niles, Bukka White, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Shines, John Fahey, Willie Dixon, Lonnie Mack, Kris Kristofferson, and Country, featuring Michael Fondiler and Tom Snow.
The group consisted of Lou Gottlieb, Alex Hassilev and Glenn Yarbrough; quoting from the back cover of the album, "You leave the Ash Grove convinced your friends were right.
"[1] Ry Cooder first public performance was playing backing guitar for Jackie DeShannon at the Ash Grove in 1963 when he was sixteen years old.
And, long before there was a recognized "world" genre in the music industry, the Ash Grove provided a venue in Los Angeles for such diverse performers as Ravi Shankar, Mongo Santamaría, Miriam Makeba and the Virgin Islands Steel Band.
Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, the Firesign Theatre, Rowan & Martin and Steve Allen brought their comedy and commentary to the Ash Grove.
Luis Valdez's El Teatro Campesino performed, as did Dr. Demento, poet Charles Bukowski and artists campaigning against the Vietnam War, such as Jane Fonda.
"[5] In 1974, the Los Angeles branch of the New York City-based comedy venue, The Improv, opened in the former Ash Grove space, where it established its own reputation and prominence, up to this day.