Okay, I finally got to see inside the 1966 Farmingdale High School Yearbook. I see Gregory Ferrara's picture. I don't see much of a resemblance to April Lawton, if any.
There is a book called Gender Shock which showed before and after pictures of people who had gender reassignment surgery. You would be surprised how much a person can change. There was one picture of a Hells Angel bikie covered in tattoos and overweight, with a photo of the same person a few years later totally unrecognisably skinny. Hormones can change the deposition of fat in a persons face and throat, and around the body.
One thing is certain, there is no birth certificate in the name of April Lawton, born in 1947, 1948, or 1949 that would match her background. I checked everywhere for it. There is however a New York birth entry for a Gregory Ferrara dated 30th July 1948. If anyone has a copy of a birth extract or baptism record of April Lawton, that would go someway to settle the debate once and for all.
There is a book called Gender Shock which showed before and after pictures of people who had gender reassignment surgery. You would be surprised how much a person can change. There was one picture of a Hells Angel bikie covered in tattoos and overweight, with a photo of the same person a few years later totally unrecognisably skinny. Hormones can change the deposition of fat in a persons face and throat, and around the body.
One thing is certain, there is no birth certificate in the name of April Lawton, born in 1947, 1948, or 1949 that would match her background. I checked everywhere for it. There is however a New York birth entry for a Gregory Ferrara dated 30th July 1948. If anyone has a copy of a birth extract or baptism record of April Lawton, that would go someway to settle the debate once and for all.
We know that Lawton was a married name or stage name and we know that April Ferrara was stated in their father's obituary. However one could also speculate that Gregory and April were non identical twins (thought they don't look alike). We could say that Gregory went off and got married to an April and mysteriously disappeared and his wife came back and didn't know what to tell the parents so they kind of took her in as their own. Without proof we can speculate to the "nth" degree. Did you ever get to interview one of her two husbands?
There may be a legal name change thing somewhere in the late 60s that would be the best thing (if we really wanted to prove anything). More interesting, though, as you may have mentioned is to learn how the person got to be that good in both art and guitar playing. Early teachers, influences like that. We only get half the story as of now.
I had some other interesting speculations during my research that i'd rather not put up in writing but would love a chance to speak for a few minutes with you. I think a rock documentary is still warranted by you if you're going that direction still.
I did take a look at some gender reassignments after you mentioned it and I saw one that looked completely different in the eyes. It's like the eyes were wider than when a male. They had the left side (the after photo) and the right side (the before). Fascinating.
Last edited by TheWizard; September-21st-2012 at 03:47 PM.
Reason: misspelling
We know that Lawton was a married name or stage name and we know that April Ferrara was stated in their father's obituary. However one could also speculate that Gregory and April were non identical twins (thought they don't look alike). We could say that Gregory went off and got married to an April and mysteriously disappeared and his wife came back and didn't know what to tell the parents so they kind of took her in as their own. Without proof we can speculate to the "nth" degree. Did you ever get to interview one of her two husbands?
There may be a legal name change thing somewhere in the late 60s that would be the best thing (if we really wanted to prove anything). More interesting, though, as you may have mentioned is to learn how the person got to be that good in both art and guitar playing. Early teachers, influences like that. We only get half the story as of now.
I had some other interesting speculations during my research that i'd rather not put up in writing but would love a chance to speak for a few minutes with you. I think a rock documentary is still warranted by you if you're going that direction still.
I did take a look at some gender reassignments after you mentioned it and I saw one that looked completely different in the eyes. It's like the eyes were wider than when a male. They had the left side (the after photo) and the right side (the before). Fascinating.
Wizard,
To paraphrase an old adage...All speculation and no documentation makes Jack a confused boy. Lawton a stage or married name? Probably accurate. Non-fraternal twins? Nope, I doubt it. Gender change? Perhaps, but it don't mean a thing. Two husbands? I don't know. First time I ever heard this. Good at both music and art? Undoubtedly, April was a gifted person. By the way, Susan Ferrara always referred to April as "my sister". If you have some other speculations, why not submit them to Cooney, who posted in this discussion and penned an article on April Lawton for "Guitar Player" magazine? I think he has done a lot of research. Good luck.
We know that Lawton was a married name or stage name and we know that April Ferrara was stated in their father's obituary. However one could also speculate that Gregory and April were non identical twins (thought they don't look alike).
Except there is no marriage certificate for April Lawton. I've looked for one and there is no record of her being married. Also if April Lawton and Gregory Ferrara were twins, why was only April mentioned in the obituary and not Gregory?
We could say that Gregory went off and got married to an April and mysteriously disappeared and his wife came back and didn't know what to tell the parents so they kind of took her in as their own. Without proof we can speculate to the "nth" degree. Did you ever get to interview one of her two husbands?
See above, there is no marriage certificate for an April Lawton. Undoubtedly she had boyfriends and partners, but she not legally married.
There may be a legal name change thing somewhere in the late 60s that would be the best thing (if we really wanted to prove anything). More interesting, though, as you may have mentioned is to learn how the person got to be that good in both art and guitar playing. Early teachers, influences like that. We only get half the story as of now.
Yes there would be documents concerning a legal change of name. The difficult part is obtaining them in lieu of privacy laws governing them.
I had some other interesting speculations during my research that i'd rather not put up in writing but would love a chance to speak for a few minutes with you. I think a rock documentary is still warranted by you if you're going that direction still.
Feel free to private msg me. My original intention was for a documentary film, but since there is very little film footage of April, only a handful of photographs, and people who want to talk but not on camera and not talking about her personal life - any such film would be a waste of time to the audience. A far better solution would be a book, however a book that starts at Ramatam and doesn't discuss her childhood or touch on her personal life would be no more than an article in a guitar magazine - hardly worth a biography.
Except there is no marriage certificate for April Lawton. I've looked for one and there is no record of her being married. Also if April Lawton and Gregory Ferrara were twins, why was only April mentioned in the obituary and not Gregory?
See above, there is no marriage certificate for an April Lawton. Undoubtedly she had boyfriends and partners, but she not legally married.
Yes there would be documents concerning a legal change of name. The difficult part is obtaining them in lieu of privacy laws governing them.
Feel free to private msg me. My original intention was for a documentary film, but since there is very little film footage of April, only a handful of photographs, and people who want to talk but not on camera and not talking about her personal life - any such film would be a waste of time to the audience. A far better solution would be a book, however a book that starts at Ramatam and doesn't discuss her childhood or touch on her personal life would be no more than an article in a guitar magazine - hardly worth a biography.
No, we're just speculating for fun, I was saying Gregory Ferrara went off and married a girl named April (no last name, could be any) she took his last name Ferrara and moved back here. The reason for these comments is more to show that unless there's hard proof, anybody could say anything and then put it up on Wikipedia no matter how far out it got. That's what we have without any hard evidence on the gender reassignment. BUT we know that the stories on that have been told since all the way back from people who knew the family or grew up with Greg. I just wouldn't have been the one to rewrite the Wikipedia page and say "straight up the flagpole" April Lawton (born Gregory Ferrara, ca 1948) Although that change has been taken down now. Someone also took the stuff out on her husband disputing the myth, but they never named him awhile ago.
No, we're just speculating for fun, I was saying Gregory Ferrara went off and married a girl named April (no last name, could be any) she took his last name Ferrara and moved back here. The reason for these comments is more to show that unless there's hard proof, anybody could say anything and then put it up on Wikipedia no matter how far out it got. That's what we have without any hard evidence on the gender reassignment. BUT we know that the stories on that have been told since all the way back from people who knew the family or grew up with Greg. I just wouldn't have been the one to rewrite the Wikipedia page and say "straight up the flagpole" April Lawton (born Gregory Ferrara, ca 1948) Although that change has been taken down now. Someone also took the stuff out on her husband disputing the myth, but they never named him awhile ago.
I have additional personal information on April Lawton, but for obvious reasons since I'm still deciding whether to go ahead and publish a biography on her life, it will stay under wraps for now. As for the claim of her "husband" on wikipedia, that's pure baloney - she wasn't legally married, and it was added btw by an anonymous IP address.
There isn't single thing about this thread that can be classified as fun for most of existence. However "many" actual people are really posting in this thread...you all continue to prove my point.
There isn't anything "stalker" like about "supposedly" hunting down high school yearbook pictures.
I am still waiting for someone to claiming to have been his/her Doctor to show up.
Last edited by Blue Train; September-22nd-2012 at 01:04 AM.
"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind."
- Duke Ellington
“Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.”
- George Bernard Shaw
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion."
There isn't single thing about this thread that can be classified as fun for most of existence. However "many" actual people are really posting in this thread...you all continue to prove my point.
There isn't anything "stalker" like about "supposedly" hunting down high school yearbook pictures.
I am still waiting for someone to claiming to have been his/her Doctor to show up.
Blue Train, It's not "stalker" like. Can't stalk a dead person. But IF there was a resemblance it would merit futher investigation.
I agree, until the doctor shows up, I don't wanna see April Lawton (born Gregory Ferrara 1948) on Wikipedia. But that is gone for now. I don't know who put that up on Sept 11 this year.
Okay, I finally got to see inside the 1966 Farmingdale High School Yearbook. I see Gregory Ferrara's picture. I don't see much of a resemblance to April Lawton, if any.
If there was a gender reassignment, they should at least look like brother and sister OR a male and female version with the same or similar face. My wife says but they do all kinds of surgery. I said, back in 1968? They were doing the sex changes, but how much facial surgery were they doing with it.
I don't know. Maybe we are back to urban legend status. I love this mystery, but that doesn't help with the fact that April Lawton as guitarist is fading away from folks memories and I'm so glad there's been a couple of websites dedicated to keep her legacy alive. That artwork April did is stunning and so detailed.
With regards to Cheri, who was Chris Ferrara's parents? I know they had a fairly big Italian family.
Chris's parents were Frank and Carol Ferrara. Frank passed away in 1994 or 95. Hard to remember. He took his own life while I was away at boot camp. Aprils parents ( Susan and Frank ) were Chris's grandparents. I had the pleasure of meeting Susan, Chris's aunt, and his grandparents only twice in my life. They came out once for a family visit and then his grandparents again for our wedding. Such an amazing family. Sadly, I never got to meet April. I met Chris when I was 12 and I remember sitting on the couch with him one day and he decided to start playing some music that his Aunt April had done. I wasn't really into the rock n roll thing, but I was definatly impressed none the less. He went on about all the famous people she knew and about what an amazing painter she was. This family, the entire Ferrara family, was full of some of the most talented people I have ever known. Aside from everything April had done with her life, Chris and his father were incredible writers. They all loved to draw and paint. There were some amazing genes running through this family. Sadly, this family has also seen a lot of heartache. First Chris's dad did what he did, and then shorty after April passed around Thanksgiving. I remember I was 4wheeling in Beaver Utah when I got a call from Chris telling me that his Aunt April has just passed. Then Frank, Chris's grandpa lost his battle with cancer. Then Chris, my ex husband, lost his life at age 30. That was five years ago last February. Finally, Susan, Chris's grandma, passed away a couple years ago. I had two kids with Chris and the three of us are doing well. I moved us to Washington about a year after Chris passed away because the memories of us in Vegas made it too difficult to move on. Carol is still in Vegas. We talk with her often and she recently went on a two week vacation with me and the kids. I haven't talked with Susan (Chris's aunt) in quite a while. Maybe some day.
Last edited by Anthonyfrancis; September-22nd-2012 at 09:02 AM.
Blue Train, It's not "stalker" like. Can't stalk a dead person. But IF there was a resemblance it would merit futher investigation.
I agree, until the doctor shows up, I don't wanna see April Lawton (born Gregory Ferrara 1948) on Wikipedia. But that is gone for now. I don't know who put that up on Sept 11 this year.
Someone has now updated Lawton's birthdate to July 30th, 1948 - which is the same birthdate as Gregory Ferrara.
Well thank you. I don't have and pics of April, and I know I have one of Susan burried somewhere in a box, but here are a couple pics I wanted to share. This is Chris and me ( Aprils nephew) and one of Frank and Chris ( both of her nephews ) together. I also have some wonderfly funny pictures of Aprils parents at out wedding. The photographer kept catching them making the craziest faces from watching our friends having a good time. Instead of your traditional wedding, imagine 50 of your closest high school stoner friends living it up with an open bar. And then add your traditional grandparents. Lol. Chris led a very short life, but if he had to count on one hand five things that meant the most to him, one of them would have been having his grandparents fly from NY to be with him on his wedding day.
Someone has now updated Lawton's birthdate to July 30th, 1948 - which is the same birthdate as Gregory Ferrara.
Also, a couple years back, there was mention of the April Lawton website being launched on April's birthday July 30th before you mentioned the birth certificate you found. It was interesting going to the beginning of the thread and reading everything. Definately the site had a much different tone on it the first two years.
Then a lack of interest and then some new folks come along and it starts the mysteries over again. What I regret, is not knowing that April was around on the island for years working on projects and didn't get a chance to see her perform live on the stage. After she died we start finding out about the symphony and a possible new album. Also wish there was some kind of live performance filmed back in the Ramatam days. Did the rest of the Academy Of Music live performance ever surface, I certainly can't find it.
"It seemed strange that Pinera,
with all of his talent, was batting
0-for-3 with rock and roll bands, and
his stint with Ramatam brought the
average down to 0-for-4.
"Right from the start it sounded
great," he said. "We went into the
studio and recorded - there was great
communication between our guitars,
Pinera and April Lawton. It was
later that April told us (Pinera and
Mitch Mitchell, former Hendrix
drummer) that she was using us for
her own ends and would soon get rid
of us. At first we laughed at this -
then we freaked. We had just bought
an eighteen room house in New York
as a home for the band and then this
chick tells us she doesn't want us
around anymore.
"l think April entered the whole
thing under a misunderstanding, said
Pinera. "She was under the impression
that it was her band and we were
sidemen. I ve never been a sideman
and I didn't want to be a sideman in
the April Lawton Band ... I quit
Ramatam after a year and a half."
Carl, do you still have your own music online, myspace or whatever you had it on when I listened to it? Your
renditions of classic rock tunes were great!
Carl, do you still have your own music online, myspace or whatever you had it on when I listened to it? Your
renditions of classic rock tunes were great!
Ramatam's first album showcased the skills of the band better than the second album.
April was Greg; Greg was April. She was a great, great guitarist. She could have gone into jazz, because she played great jazz guitar too, but she decided on rock, which always confounded me. Sex changes back then were a big deal as were many things. RIP April, my old friend.
Originally Posted by TheWizard
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I don't have and pics of April, and I know I have one of Susan burried somewhere in a box, but here are a couple pics I wanted to share. This is Chris and me ( Aprils nephew) and one of Frank and Chris ( both of her nephews ) together. I also have some wonderfly funny pictures of Aprils parents at out wedding. The photographer kept catching them making the craziest faces from watching our friends having a good time. Instead of your traditional wedding, imagine 50 of your closest high school stoner friends living it up with an open bar. And then add your traditional grandparents. Lol. Chris led a very short life, but if he had to count on one hand five things that meant the most to him, one of them would have been having his grandparents fly from NY to be with him on his wedding day.
