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 Chad Mitchell Trio, and later toured extensively with Peter, Paul & Mary.
Prestopino's "day job" from 1970 until 1989 was as a technician with the Record Plant Remote (the Record Plant's studio-on-wheels), where he served as a sound and maintenance engineer 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 asAerosmith, Rick Derringer, Alice Cooper, Pete Seeger, John Denver[1], Tom Paxton, and Judy Collins.[2][3]
Paul Prestopino was the son of artist Gregorio Prestopino, who moved his family from New York City to Roosevelt, NJ in 1949.
List of places where I regularly saw him play (at least annually)
- Washington Square Park reunion
- Rutgers fair (name?)
- Howell Farm Fiddler's Contest (with his string band ?)
- Roosevelt String Band (with Brahinsky, Kai Altair, et al) annually from ? until ?
- his recent bluegrass 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
- ↑ 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.