April Lawton

April Lawton (July 30th, 1948–November 23, 2006) was a guitarist, singer, and composer who rose to some prominence in the early to mid 1970s as a member of the band Ramatam, which also included former Iron Butterfly guitarist Mike Pinera and the former Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell. She was hailed as the "female Jimi Hendrix" by many, and her playing style was a mix of Jeff Beck, Hendrix, and Allan Holdsworth. Indeed she was such a virtuoso that she was rumored to be transsexual — rumors 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. 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 disappeared 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.

During the 1990s she recorded demos for a future album, and the material remains unreleased. Some brief excerpts are available at the April Lawton tribute website: .