The Fool were a Dutch design collective and band in the psychedelic style of art in British popular music in the late 1960s. The group was named in reference to the Fooltarot card. The original members were Dutch artists and , who were discovered by photographer Karl Ferris among the hippie community on the Spanish island of Ibiza in 1966. He took photographs of clothes they designed, and sent them to London where they were published in The Times. Ferris took The Fool back to London, and together they opened a studio, with the Dutch artists producing clothes and art, and Ferris pursuing photography. Barry Finch and artist Josje Leeger joined later.
the cover of the Incredible String Band's 1967 LP The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion;
cover art for Boudewijn de Groot's 1968 Psych-folk LP Picknick ;
stage costumes and decoration to instruments used by Cream, including Eric Clapton's famed Gibson SG guitar named also The Fool, Jack Bruce's Fender Bass VI bass, and Ginger Baker's drum kit, created for the group's 1967 tour of the US.
The Fool's best known artworks are those they created for the Beatles in 1966–67. They include:
the clothes worn in the "I Am the Walrus" segment of the 1967 filmMagical Mystery Tour television film;
the 3-story size mural painted in psychedelic colours on the facade of the Beatles' Apple Boutique in London's Baker Street ;
decoration to John Lennon's piano and one of his Gibson acoustic guitars;
decoration to George Harrison's Mini car and his bungalow Kinfauns in Surrey, as well as several of Harrison's guitars, but not his Fender Stratocaster known as "Rocky"; Harrison painted this himself;
the set design for Joe Massot's 1968 movie Wonderwall;
After moving to Los Angeles, the Fool created the largest mural in the world at the time on the exterior of the Aquarius Theatre for a production of the Broadway musicalHair, by invitation of producer Michael Butler. Simon and Marijke went on to paint other theaters where Hair was playing, in San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago. Thereafter, The Fool split up, Simon, Barry and Josje eventually going back to Amsterdam while Marijke remained in Los Angeles to continue her artistic endeavors.
Musical career
The Fool also released an eponymous album The Fool in 1968, in the psychedelic folk style, produced by Graham Nash. It was re-released in 2005. As Seemon & Marijke they released another album called Son of America on A & M records, also produced by Graham Nash, in collaboration with Booker T. Jones, in 1969. Seemon & Marijke recorded a third album called Mediterranean Blues produced by Booker T. Jones in his Homegrown Studio in 1972. Their second single "I saw you" was a hit in the Netherlands.
