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. 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 beginning in 1990, 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. Given his skill as an accompanist and his availability at the venue of many non-studio recordings, Prestopino became widely known in the music community and sometimes ended up on hit records by major rock stars, including Aerosmith, Rick Derringer and Alice Cooper. He also played various fretted instruments for recording sessions of many folk singers, including Pete Seeger, John Denver, Tom Paxton, and Judy Collins.