Obit: Paul Prestopino (PP&M accompanist) 2023

Subject: Obit: Paul Prestopino (P., P. & Mary) 2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 23 - 03:55 PM

So far it is only on the Peter, Paul and Mary Facebook page. I can't isolate a link to the particular story, but for now it's at the top of the page.

Our dear friend and fellow performer, Paul Prestopino, has passed. "An extraordinary talent, and what a sweetheart he was!”, says Peter. "He toured and recorded with us for over thirty years, On my solo recordings, he was my go-to buddy, playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica and more - any, or all, of them on a given song. He always found the most tasteful, moving, way to “layer" them in so that together, they told the song’s soul, and its story.

For so many, Presto was a “musician’s musician”, a real mench-and-a-half and, in the trio's eyes, his politics and his unrepentant, ethical, heart were absolutely the best!

May his name be a blessing in our lives. “Presto was a jewel", says Noel "I loved his directness and his always appropriate reminder that the shortest distance between two points was a straight line (must have been the carpenter in him). Whether in the context of Peter, Paul and Mary, my solo work or our personal friendship, I am forever thankful for his generous and uniquely supportive presence in my life. He will be deeply missed.”

P.S. He loved to laugh and, as a matter of principle, he always wore overalls and different colored socks -- on stage and off.)

CLARIFICATION: Peter Yarrow & Noel Paul Stookey are both alive and continue to perform together occasionally. Paul Prestopino "Presto" was their hugely talented multi-instrument accompanist for 30 years.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Prestopino (P., P. & M accompanst) 2023
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 20 Jul 23 - 08:47 PM

sad news - condolences to family and friends.

Early in his career he was accompanist for a 1956 production staged
at Princeton University Triagle Theater, devised by Brooks Jones,
later founder of the SUNY Purchase arts festival.

The production THREE FOLKS SING “Taking their inspiration from Edward Steichen's "Family of Man" and from Carl Sandburg's poetry, four attractive young people have produced a program of folk music that is different, refreshing, and exceedingly enjoyable……”

1956 Princeton Triangle Show, brought together Walt Winter of Swarthmore College, Ernestine Brown of New York City, and Paul Prestopino of Roosevelt, New Jersey, to perform together for the first time.

a 1959 production featured - Brooks Jones; Walt Winter; Molly Scott; Paul Prestopino

both productions appeared on limited LP pressings.

further quite from review of the show:
"Although the show itself is skillfully and professionally executed, the youthfulness of the performers gives 3 Folk Sing a fresh and natural touch. Its organizer is Brooks Jones, Princeton '56, a former president of the Triangle Club Show. A tall, lanky blond, Jones might pass for a song leader at a summer work camp; and yet, a touch of the Princetonian ivy still seems to cling to him. (On their record cover the three singers are posed on a tiger rug.)

The other male singer is Walt Winter, Swarthmore '56, a medical student with a West Indian background. As a singer, Winter is somewhat more impressive than Jones, but none of the three can be said to have an exceptionally outstanding voice. The charm of the show is rather in the overall composition than in the quality of singing itself.

Molly Scott, a very pretty blond Smithie (class of '59), has a pleasant and natural voice, but more striking is her versatility of dramatic expression. In one scene, she coos sweetly over the new-born babe as the group sings "Virgin Mary Had a Little Baby," and in a subsequent number, she brandishes a mean pen-knife in a rowdy rendition of "Union Maid." Although 3 Folk Sing is nominally a trio, there is also a fourth, Paul Prestopino, a talented instrumentalist who accompanies the others. With his black beard and black-rimmed glasses, he provides added flavoring to the "Family of Man" atmosphere.

The musical interpretation of Steichen's pictorial essay begins and ends with a recitation of the theme: "All man is but one man." With a rapid-moving and never-tiring tempo, the show moves through the various phases of man's life: work and praise, sorrow, prayer, complaint, and love. Between each number the theatre is blackened and the performers take their positions for the next of the songs--some interpreted as still pictures, others with lively action. In the "complaint category," for example, "Talking Union" and "Union Maid" are done with audience participation, including community singing on the chorus of the latter. The cast distributes union handbills reading "Oust Boss Gunch" and "If yer gonna split Atoms you can't split Ranks." (Jones had the handbills printed from old union woodcuts he found in the Princeton archives.)

For a folk singing concert, it is almost a curiosity that all of the selections are in English. When asked why the group did not sing foreign songs, Jones remarked, "I guess we don't know any." A better explanation might be gleaned from the group's parody of esoteric folk singing. Explaining that some Greenwich Villagers had criticized their repertoire as lacking in "real folk songs," they proceeded to sing "a real field song--Field Holler" ("We found it in a field," Jones said) and "a real mountain song--"Bring Me Back My Brown-Eyed Girl" ("We found it on a mountain.")

The record jacket for 3 Folk Sing states that "folk songs should be sung for the same reason they've always been sung, because they're fun." This philosophy comes across well in the concert. It shows originality, ingenuity, spontaneity. And it is fun. "


Thomas.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Prestopino (P., P. & M accompanst) 2023
From: GerryM
Date: 21 Jul 23 - 12:30 AM

Prestopino also accompanied The Chad Mitchell Trio, and The Mitchell Trio, on guitar, banjo and mandolin, on several of their albums.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Prestopino (P., P. & M accompanst) 2023
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jul 23 - 01:21 AM

Form https://bluegrasstoday.com/paul-prestopino-passes/

Paul Prestopino passes
Posted on July 20, 2023 By Richard D. Smith

Paul Prestopino, a renowned multi-instrument sideman and recording engineer, with long experience in bluegrass, old-time, folk, and contra dance musics, passed away peacefully at his home in Roosevelt, NJ, on July 16, 2023. He was 84.

One of two sons of acclaimed American artist Gregorio Prestopino and his wife Elizabeth (Dauber) Prestopino, Paul became a mainstay of the vibrant 1960s folk revival scene in New York City’s Greenwich Village. He played mandolin in the pathbreaking “citybilly” bluegrass band, The Greenbriar Boys (between the tenures of Eric Weissberg and Ralph Rinzler). He soon toured and recorded as a backup musician with the nationally-successful folk act, The Mitchell Trio, and later toured extensively with the now-legendary group Peter, Paul & Mary.

His studio work included sessions with Pete Seeger, John Denver, Tom Paxton, Graham Parker, Christine Lavin, and Judy Collins.

Paul also brought the sounds of bluegrass banjo, mandolin, and dobro to hit records by such rock stars as Aerosmith, Rick Derringer, and Alice Cooper.

How? As a veteran technician with The Record Plant studios (notably their remote mobile operation), he helped countless musicians make their best-possible recordings. And he typically had his acoustic instruments at hand. So, when pop musicians or their producers mused about giving a track more of a folk, bluegrass, or old-time sound, Paul was ready to go.

“Presto” (as he was known to his many friends) was musically active to nearly the end of his days, performing and/or recording with such popular New Jersey-based groups as the Roosevelt String Band, Hold The Mustard, the Princeton Country Dancers Pickup Band, and the Magnolia Street String Band. He was also a fixture at annual jam session reunions in New York City’s Washington Square Park. He received a New Jersey Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Paul Prestopino was also famed for his friendliness, hipster humor, and distinctive sartorial style: brightly colored shirts under bib overalls and multi-hued, mismatched socks. In his fashion sense as well as his music, he was one of a kind. He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered. Paul is survived by his wife Sara, daughter Peri, and granddaughter Roisin.

R.I.P., Paul Prestopino.

Richard D. Smith is a journalist/researcher/author (as well as bluegrass musician and theater person) based in the Princeton, NJ area. He is the author of six books of history and biography, including Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass. His writing has appeared in national publications ranging from The New York Times to Bluegrass Today.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Prestopino (PP&M accompanist) 2023
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jul 23 - 01:34 AM

Paul stopped by Mudcat occasionally, posting as "Presto." He contributed at least one song to the Digital Tradition, Conversation With a Mule.

He told an interesting story here (click) about taking his instruments on the road.

The man was a real pro. Nice guy, too.

-Joe-