Paul Prestopino

Prestopino's family moved from Brooklyn to Roosevelt in 1949. He graduated in 1956 from Hightstown High School[https://www.newspapers.com/article/asbury-park-press-hightstown-high-school/135164100/ "College Entrants"], Asbury Park Press, October 10, 1956. Accessed November 13, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "The following borough residents who were graduated in June from Hightstown High School are attending various colleges this year: ... Paul Prestopino, Carnegie Tech." and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a physics student where he also worked as a physics lab technician.{{Cite news |date=1962-10-06 |title=Chad Mitchel Trio Is Solid in Entertaining |pages=15 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/wisconsin-state-journal-chad-mitchel-tri/129938820/ |access-date=2023-11-04}}{{Cite book |last=Leary |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKafdnSF33gC&dq=%22Paul+Prestopino%22&pg=PA65 |title=Polkabilly: How the Goose Island Ramblers Redefined American Folk Music |date=2010-11-18 |publisher=Oxford University Press, United States |isbn=978-0-19-975696-4 |pages=65, 128 |language=en}}

In 1958 to 1959, Prestopino played on Sundays in Washington Square Park in New York City's Greenwich Village with the Greenbriar Boys.{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X1o2EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Paul+Prestopino%22&pg=RA2-PT81 |title=Bluegrass, Newgrass, Old-Time, and Americana Music |date=2018-04-23 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4556-2402-7 |language=en}} He left the Greenbriar Boys before they became nationally known to serve as an accompanist for the Chad Mitchell Trio, and he also played behind Peter, Paul & Mary for approximately fifteen years.{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Judy |date=2010-09-21 |title=Peter and Paul without Mary bittersweet |url=http://www.bangordailynews.com/2010/09/21/living/peter-and-paul-without-mary-bittersweet/ |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=Bangor Daily News |language=en-US}}

Prestopino worked from 1970 until 1989 as a technician with the Record Plant Remote (the Record Plant's studio-on-wheels), where he served as a sound engineer for mainstream musicians in several musical genres. Although not a regular studio musician, due to his availability at the venue of many non-studio recordings (where he always brought instruments with him), Prestopino was frequently tapped to add a track or accompaniment whenever certain stringed instruments were desired. He contributed to albums by bands and singers such as Aerosmith, Rick Derringer, Alice Cooper, Pete Seeger, John Denver, Tom Paxton, and Judy Collins{{Cite web |title=Paul Prestopino {{!}} Credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-prestopino-mn0000377808/credits |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=AllMusic |language=en}} among others. On these recordings, he played various fretted instruments including guitar, banjo, dobro and mandolin. Prestopino first contributed guitar, autoharp, 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, including Take Me to Tomorrow and Aerie.

In the second half of his life, Prestopino played frequently in small musical venues within driving range of his home, including the New Jersey Folk Festival and Howell Living History Farm, where he typically appeared with Jugtown Mountain String Band. Prestopino usually attended the Banjofest reunion of musicians who used to play in the park in the 1950s and ’60s, held annually in Washington Square Park, New York City. He performed annually for many years at the New England Folk Festival in Boston with his English Country Dance band (called Hold the Mustard). For 37 years, he played annually in the Roosevelt String Band in an always-sold-out concert at the Roosevelt Town Hall that included many accomplished musicians (such as Kai Altair) from the Roosevelt community. He also played regularly for contra-dances at Princeton Country Dancers (the contra-dance in Princeton, New Jersey) and acted as a sound and maintenance engineer, as well as a musician, for their open bands.

Prestopino could often be found in his off-hours jamming with a wide variety of musicians and composing several tunes for stringed instruments. In 2019, he recorded a bluegrass album as a member of the Magnolia Street String Band.

Prestopino died on July 16, 2023.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Richard D. |date=2023-07-20 |title=Paul Prestopino passes |url=https://bluegrasstoday.com/paul-prestopino-passes/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=Bluegrass Today |language=en-US}}

{{Cite news |date=2005-05-19 |title=Off-center impact:Prestopino's influence spans 40 years of folk music |pages=D19 and D31 |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-off-center-impac/129938078/ |access-date=2023-11-04}}

{{Cite book |last=Rosenberg |first=Neil V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hp1Sm81MYboC&dq=%22Paul+Prestopino%22&pg=PA148 |title=Bluegrass: A History |date=2005 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-07245-1 |pages=148 |language=en}}

[https://bluegrasstoday.com/paul-prestopino-passes/ Paul Prestopino Passes], obituary in Bluegrass Today posted on July 20, 2023 by Richard D. Smith. Last access 7/24/2023.

[https://www.stateoftheartsnj.com/video/paul-prestopino-banjo/ Paul Prestopino, Banjo] at State of the Arts, NJ, where Paul Prestopino gave State of the Arts a special mini-concert of one of his own compositions, “Weymann’s March”, in 2020. A [https://harbormist.com/tunes1/ tune repository for Princeton Country Dancers] contains seven additional dance tunes composed by Prestopino.

{{Cite web |title=Paul Prestopino |url=https://www.rooseveltartsproject.org/artist/paul-prestopino |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=Rooseveltartsproject |language=en}}

[https://www.amny.com/news/scoopys-notebook-week-of-oct-5-2017/ Scoopy's Notebook, Week of October 5, 2017] report on the AM*NY website, Oct. 5, 2017, includes two photographs of Paul Prestopino in Washington Square Park at the Banjofest reunion of musicians who used to play in the park in the 1950s and '60s.

[https://bluegrasstoday.com/wrong-side-of-the-rain-magnolia-street-string-band/ Wrong Side of the Rain – Magnolia Street String Band] review by Lee Zimmerman on Bluegrass today, March 3, 2020. Last access 7/24/2023.

{{Cite web |date=2023-01-31 |title=The Roosevelt String Band-35 Years On... |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=917nkM9b5mE |publisher=Roosevelt Arts Project}}

[https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=638497461679112&set=a.585382866990572 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.

[https://www.recordplantdiaries.com/2021/07/13/prestos-adt-chango/ Presto’s “Imaginative” ADT Chango] from the Record Plant Diaries, July 13, 2021, referring to an ingenious rig-up Paul Prestopino created in July of 1971.

[https://wdvrfm.org/calendar1/2019/7/12/barn-dancenbspat-howell-living-history-farm Barn Dance at Howell Living History Farm] on WDVR-FM website, for July 12–13, 2019.

[https://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/2014/06/jugtown_mountain_string_band_t.html Jugtown Mountain String Band to perform at Shippen Manor in Oxford, June 15] on nj.com, 6/9/2014. This lists the members of the band. Last access 8/15/2023.

• [https://stateoftheartsnj.com/video/paul-prestopino-banjo/ State of the Arts: Paul Prestopino performing Weymann’s March in 2020]

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Category:1939 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:American folk musicians

Category:Hightstown High School alumni

Category:Musicians from Monmouth County, New Jersey

Category:People from Roosevelt, New Jersey

Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni

Category:The Greenbriar Boys members