Ham was born in Swansea, South Wales. He formed a local rock group called The Panthers in 1961. This group became The Iveys in 1965. The band was relocated to London by The Mojos manager, Bill Collins, in 1966, and they continued to perform for three years throughout the United Kingdom. Ham especially took to songwriting and Ray Davies of The Kinks took initial interest in producing his group. In 1968, The Iveys came to the attention of Mal Evans (The Beatles personal assistant) and were eventually signed to the Beatles' Apple label after approval from all four Beatles, who were most impressed by dozens of demos recorded at home, mostly by Pete.