50th Anniversary of the Ash Grove.
Back in the sixties.
On Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood there was a folk club called the Ash Grove.
Most weekends during my high school years you could find me there. Unlike the time I spent in my classes at Fairfax High School it was at the Ash Grove that I received my real education.
John Lee Hooker. Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponies (Linda always barefoot). Son House. Ry Cooder. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The Chambers Brothers. Taj Mahal. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee. Josh White. Doc Watson and Earl Monroe, Barbara Dane. Odetta.
Ed Pearl ran the place. I would buy a ticket and Ed would let us sit and listen for as many sets at there were.
The farmers’ market. Carrots, beans and Toni Berrios.
I was walking back from the Logan Square farmers’ market, bag of veggies in one hand and Ulysses’ leash in the other.
“Got some good stuff,” said my neighbor Dennis.
“Yep. But no corn. I’m thinking we’re not going to get much corn this summer.”
I did get a free doggie poop bag from Representative Toni Berrios.
Toni is my representative in the Illinois House. I say, “my.” But she’s really no