Paul Prestopino
Paul Prestopino (Sept. 20, 1939 - Jul. 16, 2023) was a multi-instrumental musician (playing various fretted instruments, piano and harmonica) and a sound engineer from Roosevelt, New Jersey (an artist's colony). He was a regular participant in the lively 1960s Folk Revival scene in New York City's Greenwich Village. Prestopino toured and recorded as a multi-instrumental backup musician with the nationally popular Mitchell Trio, and later toured extensively with Peter, Paul & Mary[1].
Prestopino's "day job" from 1970 until 1989 was as a technician with the Record Plant Remote[2] (the Record Plant's studio-on-wheels), where he served as a sound and maintenance engineer[3] for countless musicians. He was not a regular studio musician, but given his skill as an accompanist and his availability at the venue of many non-studio recordings (he always brought his instruments on the road with him), Prestopino was frequently invited on the spot to add a track or accompaniment whenever certain stringed instruments were desired. Thus, he ended up playing for (and was given credit on) multiple hit records by bands and singers such as Aerosmith, Rick Derringer, Alice Cooper, Pete Seeger, John Denver[4], Tom Paxton, and Judy Collins.[5][6]
Paul Prestopino was the son of artist Gregorio Prestopino, who moved his family from New York City to Roosevelt, NJ in 1949.
In terms of primary performances, Prestopino played frequently in small musical venues within driving range of his home, attending the Washington Square Park reunion annually in New York City, playing at contra-dances and English Country Dances with his long-time band Hold the Mustard, and with the Roosevelt String Band which played annually in an always-sold-out, intimate concert at the Roosevelt Town Hall that included many accomplished musicians of all ages from the Roosevelt community (including Kai Altair, Joe Pepitone, David Brahinsky and others).
List of places where I regularly saw him play (at least annually)
- Rutgers fair (name?)
- Howell Farm Fiddler's Contest (with his string band ?)
- Magnolia Street String Band
- Jugtown Mountain String Band
- Roosevelt String Band
- Hold the Mustard, English Country Dance band
- Many ad hoc bands for the contra dances in Princeton and Philadelphia, including Palmer's Square
- Head for the Hills
- Rum & Onions
- NEFFA
Notes
- ↑ Peter Paul & Mary obituary for Paul Prestopino from Facebook, July 20, 2023
- ↑ The Friends of Record Plant NYC FB group announce the passing of longtime Record Plant maintenance tech and master musician Paul “Presto” Prestopino. by The Record Plant Diaries staff on Facebook, July 17, 2023.
- ↑ Presto’s “Imaginative” ADT Chango from the Record Plant Diaries, Jul. 13, 2021, referring to an ingenious rig-up Paul Prestopino created in July of 1971.
- ↑ Paul Prestopino first contributed guitar and mandolin accompaniment to John Denver's Rhymes & Reasons album in 1969, and he also is credited for playing on eight subsequent album releases of works by John Denver, as per the list of credits on AllMusic, per the album liner notes, and per the articles about the albums in Wikipedia.
- ↑ Paul Prestopino's List of Credits from 1962 to 2018 on AllMusic.com, last access 7/23/2023.
- ↑ List of 58 recording credits from 1963 to 2015 on RateYourMusic.com, last access 7/23/2023.