April Lawton

Who was April Lawton?

April Lawton was a guitarist and composer who rose to some prominence in the early to mid-1970s as a member of the band Ramatam, which also included at one time former Iron Butterfly guitarist Mike Pinera and the former Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell, and Russ Smith, and Tommy Sullivan. Her playing style was a mix of Jeff Beck, Hendrix, and Allan Holdsworth. Lawton gave no interviews, refused to discuss her past, and she was rumoured to be transsexual — rumours confirmed by her friend, Fanny guitarist June Millington, in a 2010 interview for GuitarGearHeads.

Lawton stayed with Ramatam for two studio albums, their self-titled debut and In April Came the Dawning of the Red Suns. Due to personality clashes and shifting line-ups, the group was not commercially successful, and Lawton left after the second album, forming a short-lived solo project called the April Lawton Band, which dissolved in the late 1970s. Lawton then dropped out from the music scene to concentrate on painting and graphic design. Her personal life remained very private until her death from heart failure at her home on November 23, 2006. She was 58.