Scott "Top Ten" Kempner (February 6, 1954 – November 29, 2023) was an American rock musician who was the
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...
ist of
The Dictators. He was also a founding member of
The Del-Lords and later a member of
The Brandos.
Background and career
Kempner was born in
the Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
on February 6, 1954.
He began his musical career in 1972, with friends
Andy Shernoff and
Ross Friedman, when they started
The Dictators.
[ The band broke up for the first time in 1975, though they frequently reunited over the following decades, and Kempner continued to play with them until his retirement in 2021.][
Kempner released a solo in 1992 called '' Tenement Angels''. He released his second solo album, ''Saving Grace'', in July 2008 on 00:02:59 Records.][
In the early 1990s, ]Dion DiMucci
Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known Mononym, mononymously as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter. His music incorporates elements of doo-wop, Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B, folk music, folk an ...
joined Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens
The Smithereens are an American rock music, rock band from Carteret, New Jersey. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio lead vocals, (vocals and guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar and backing vocals, vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar and bac ...
in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.
Kempner contributed "Apache Tears" to the 2007 compilation album ''Song of America''.
In summer 2008, '' Variety'' said about Kempner: "If the world were a just and fair place, Scott Kempner would be stopped regularly by musicians and music fans thanking him for the effect the records he made with the Del-Lords and the Dictators had on their lives. Kempner's music is impossible to not like: He's the rare master at making three-chord rock 'n' roll - inspired by the 1950s and '60s - sound fresh and vital, simultaneously urban and twangy, heartfelt, political and personal."
A Del-Lords reunion album and tour were done in 2013, and Kempner sang and played guitar on the Carla Olson album ''Have Harmony Will Travel'', performing Little Steven
Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...
's "All I Needed Was You".
Personal life and death
Kempner was married to Sharon Ludtke. He retired from his musical career in 2021, after being diagnosed with dementia, and died at a nursing home in Connecticut on November 29, 2023, at the age of 69.
References
External links
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2:59 Label's artist profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kempner, Scott
1954 births
2023 deaths
Musicians from the Bronx
The Del-Lords members
Songwriters from New York (state)
Rhythm guitarists
Guitarists from New York (state)
20th-century American guitarists
21st-century American guitarists
The Dictators members
The Brandos members
American male guitarists
American rock guitarists
Deaths from dementia in Connecticut