Naturally, Bronx-born-and-bred Scott Kempner is a New York Yankees fan. "I grew up in the shadow of the ball park, a fifteen minute walk from my bedroom to my seat," Kempner remembers. "Back when I was a kid, it was all day games, so you go early, wait for them to show up, watch batting practice... you could pay for general admission and the ushers would always let you go down to the box seats because they never sold out on weekday afternoons. That was my childhood."

Kempner's legendary '80s-era rock band the Del-Lords were as American as baseball and apple pie. Pursuing a vision of 1960s-inspired pop-rock mixed with country, blues, and folk, the band helped define the roots-rock sound. Although they never won the musical equivalent of a championship during their decade-long existence, the Del-Lords were like a scrappy minor league player that earned scores of loyal fans, but never quite broke into the majors.

American Beat Records will reissue the first three Del-Lords albums on May 26th. The band's 1984 debut, Frontier Days, and 1986's Johnny Comes Marching Home are appearing for the first time on CD, and 1988's Based On A True Story, although originally released on compact disc, never received widespread distribution.

Kempner was just as surprised about the reissued albums as the rest of us. "I didn't know anything about it," he says. "I got a phone call one day from American Beat that they'd licensed the Del-Lords stuff. It was amazing to me because my lawyer and myself had attempted to track it down for quite a while, and we never really found where the licenses ended up. So they told me they were doing this thing, and I was thrilled."

Each of the three Del-Lords reissue albums will be crammed with additional songs-demos, outtakes, and live tracks. "I immediately offered up bonus tracks," says Kempner. "We used to rehearse in this building right across the street from the Port Authority on Eighth Avenue, twelve floors of empty rooms that were rented out to bands. Madonna was there at that point, the dB's were right across from us, Iggy was there, the Fleshtones... It was a really fun time!

"We had an eight-track set up - for a songwriter, it was inspirational enough to have a band right there, to be able to write a song and hear it back that afternoon. So I had all these bonus tracks sitting around."

The three albums have not been remixed and will be presented exactly as they were released. "There are things that I'm not crazy about," Kempner says about the original albums, "but it is what it is. It's funny, but when I listen to the demos and the outtakes, they sound better to me, because they have a lot less of the '80s process that was so prevalent."

The Del-Lords began when Kempner-the former Dictators guitarist known as "Top Ten"-and bassist Manny Caiati were brought together in the band of the late, revered New York City punk-metal goddess Helen Wheels. The pair discovered an instant chemistry and set about finding other musicians to round out the Del-Lords. They were happy to find guitarist Eric Ambel, from Joan Jett's band the Blackhearts, and drummer Frank Funaro.

The Del-Lords were imagined by Kempner to be an "East Coast Beach Boys," with Kempner writing the songs and all four members singing. After rejecting the advances of several labels with ideas of changing the band ("No thanks," said Kempner to the thought of adding a female vocalist or a horn section), the Del-Lords finally signed with indie Enigma Records in 1984. "Eric and I had been through the mill enough not to jump at anything and everything that came our way," says Kempner.

The Del-Lords bucked musical trends from the very beginning. "It was the MTV era," says Kempner, and the band neither looked nor sounded like anything else being heard on the radio. The Del-Lords were at the forefront of a guitar-rock movement that included bands like Jason & the Scorchers and the Del Fuegos, beloved by fans in spite of their commercial misfortunes: "We were holding on for dear life to rock ‘n' roll."

Del-Lords fans will be happy to know that the band's impossible-to-find 1990 album Lovers Who Wander will also be reissued later this year, combined on disc with the band's 1989 live EP, Howlin' At The Halloween Moon. Kempner, whose latest solo album Saving Grace is out now on 00:02:59 Records, is also in discussions with American Beat to reissue his 1992 solo album, Tenement Angels. And with the reissues, a Del-Lords reunion might also be in the cards.

"We haven't played together in 20 years," says Kempner, "and that could actually happen before the end of this year."

I could have sworn I asked you about the Del Lords a week or two ago and that you gave me a lukewarm review.

I wish they did remix these albums, as that "'80s process" kind of ruined the last two for me. The debut "Frontier Days" was more natural sounding, but it was produced like it was power pop rather than dirtyass rawkunroll.

Rads, after this AND Rancid, you can no longer make fun of anyone regarding their taste in music.

Wow.

Rads, after this AND Rancid, you can no longer make fun of anyone regarding their taste in music.

Wow.

Rads, after this AND Rancid, you can no longer make fun of anyone regarding their taste in music.

Wow.