THE daughter of Tam Harvey, bandmate of Billy Connolly, has paid tribute to her father.

Kind messages have been flooding in for the Scottish music star who co-founded The Humblebums group in the 1960s.

Tam's daughter, Georgiana Mannion, 36, announced that her father died in Brighton on December 18 of a heart attack, aged 78.

The Humblebums featured Billy Connolly, the renowned stand-up comedian and actor; Tam on guitar; and singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty.

It was active from 1965 to 1971, they grew in reputation after playing local pubs and clubs in Glasgow.

The Argus: Tam Harvey and Georgiana Mannion.Tam Harvey and Georgiana Mannion.

Thomas Anthony Harvey, Tam for short, is survived by his two daughters Georgiana and Christine, as well as his wife Mariah Harvey and his step son Marvin Diaz.

Georgiana, who lives in Australia, said: "He was a complicated man with many vices and poor life decisions. But, he was also talented and charming and took all opportunities to brag about his daughters to his friends."

Born in Donegal, Ireland, Tam's family relocated to Glasgow when he was a young boy. He later moved to Brighton.

Georgiana added: "He was supposed to become a priest but he had other ideas. His father coerced him to become a joiner, a trade he used his entire life and how he met Billy Connolly.

"In the 60s, he started a band, The Humblebums, with Billy Connolly. Tam and Billy write together and he played the finest bluegrass and Scottish folk guitar and harmonies.

The Argus: Tam and Georgiana as a childTam and Georgiana as a child

"Gerry Rafferty joined but my father left the band with a difference of styles between the band. They went on to become household names but my father sadly never broke into the music industry again.

"He did use his joinery skills to go on to become a luthier and make guitars for himself and other musicians. He taught me the mathematics of placing a fret board when I was 10."

Tam married Georgiana's mother in the late 70s so she grew up in a house in Brighton where many folk musicians on the scene would come and stay.

She said: "John Martyn, Hamish Imlach, Tony Robinson, I was friends with his daughter Marie, The Fureys, and even my favourites, The Singing Kettle!

"He took me to Cambridge Folk Festival and Glastonbury since I was in a cot and we went backstage every time.

The Argus: Tam HarveyTam Harvey

"He took me on a school night, to see Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel so we could say hello afterwards when I was about 7 years old.

"We had an entire wall of our house just of vinyl he and my mother collected so now I have a vinyl collection myself."

Georgiana says that her father frequently played music in pubs around Brighton, and even taught her school friends how to play guitar.

He was a "world class" joiner and would make large boat swing sets for pub gardens as well as intricate mosaic steps for their own home.

Her father had an effect on how she lived her life, she said he had the best sound system in the house, bought one of the first CD players, got her so into audio that he built me speakers for her bedroom and she even studied audio engineering as a result.

The Argus: Tam HarveyTam Harvey

She said: "Like him, I picked up the guitar and bass and played in bands - punk rock and folk, and was signed to a record label and printed on vinyl.

"He was a keen photographer and built a darkroom in our house where he would develop reels of film.

"He was a well loved/hated pub musician. Made friends easily but enemies just as much. Had a bar tab in every pub in town and would sometimes use my pocket money for another beer.

"But without him I might not have been so charming, or picked up the guitar, or had my glorious red hair.

"Despite everything, I still held love for him and space for him in my life."

Georgiana added: "A difficult man, but my father nonetheless. I only get one father, and although I would have liked our relationship to have been different in so many ways, he loved me and gifted me with talents no other man could have."

Tam's funeral will take place on January 13 at Brighton Crematorium.

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