Opened in 1958 by John Mitchell, the Gaslight showcased beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso but later became a folk-music club.

[5][6] The club was next door and down the stairs from the street-level bar, the Kettle of Fish, where many performers hung out between sets,[7][8][9] including Bob Dylan.

[16] Among those who performed at the Gaslight were Bill Cosby;[17] Bob Dylan;[18] Joni Mitchell (her first ever appearance in NYC, in 1966, with Chuck Mitchell); Luke Faust, a five-string banjo player and singer who sang Appalachian ballads; Len Chandler; Paul Clayton; Luke Askew; Wavy Gravy; Joan Rivers; Bruce Springsteen.

1964–1966 saw many early performances by Richie Havens, Jose Feliciano, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Eddie Mottau, Eric Andersen, John Herald,[18] Ralph Rinzler,[18] The Greenbriar Boys, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Carolyn Hester, Elizabeth Cotten and Dave Van Ronk.

Jimi Hendrix[19] and Eric Clapton sat in together[20] for a week at the Gaslight with John Hammond Jr.[21] An array of musicians also performed at the club in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Odetta, Son House,[22] Mississippi Fred McDowell, Bonnie Raitt, Reverend Gary Davis, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Big Mama Thornton, Link Wray, Mimi Fariña, jazz musician Charles Mingus, Happy Traum and Artie Traum, Doug Kershaw, Bob Neuwirth, David Bromberg, David Buskin, Janis Siegel (who later joined The Manhattan Transfer), and others.