PETE HAM HONORED IN WALES
Badfinger's Pete Ham was honored on 27 April 2013 with a Blue Plaque at the Swansea Railway Station in Swansea, Wales. Located on Ivey Place, a location where Pete often practiced with his band The Iveys in the 1960s, the plaque represents a "place of historical interest" for visitors throughout the United Kingdom.
AMong the attendees was Olivia Harrison, widow of Beatle George Harrison. She said George spoke about Pete Ham "with fondness as a friend and with respect for his beautiful songs ... I have had the pleasure of meeting Pete's family and, although I did not know Pete himself, his lyrics and recordings embody a gentle spirit and tender heart."
Unveiled by Pete's daughter, Petera Ham-Eddie, she spoke of the father who died from suicide a month before she was born. “It was hard for him because he was a quiet person, he was more into the music and his friends and family.
"He was very sensitive rather than being involved with all the ins and outs of the business side of it. I think that was in some ways his downfall. I always remember my mum talking about him from a young age. She would always try to speak about him, because I was so like him when I was young.”
Petera, now 37 and expecting a child herself, says she’s keen to share her father’s music and legacy with her own child when it comes along.
“I’ll tell my baby what a kind and caring person he was and how talented he was through his music. I’ll tell my child how Dad seemed to care maybe a bit too much sometimes. And I’ll just talk about how I’m just so very proud of him, and happy that his legacy is still so strong and that people are still so fond of his music.”
This article was derived from Wales Online and the BBC.
