The Argyles/The Mind's Eye

Another San Antonio story, The Argyles were a group formed in early 1965. The band rose to fame from one regional hit and would eventually relocate to California and rebrand as The Children.
All five members hailing from different sections of the Alamo city: Alamo Heights, Keystone, Macarthur, Jefferson and Cole graduates, jumped into music at a young age.
The Argyles regularly played Sam Kinsey's Teen Canteen and Ft. Sam Houston.

The Members were: Steve Perron on guitar and vocals, Louis Cabaza on the keys, Ben Treiber on bass, Steve Anderson on drums, Chris Holzhaus on guitar and vocals.

 "Farmer John"

Some time in 1966 The Argyles meet up with the Cajun producer Huey Meaux. Meaux recorded and produced the bands first single: Farmer John/White Lightnin’ on his Pic-One label. Both sides were recorded at Meaux’s recording facility, Pasadena Sounds in Pasadena, TX, which at the time of this recording would have only been up and running for a little less than a year. Farmer John was a cover written by Dewey Terry and Don Harris who were a part of a group called the Squires in the mid and late 50s. Their song became a hit by the California based group The Premiers in 1964 after being covered by The Searchers a year prior with no success.

Both the Searcher’s and Premier’s versions follow the original lyrics “Farmer John, I’m in love with your daughter.” The Argyles veered from the original giving the song a real Texas Raunchy feel with “Farmer John, I’m in love with your Mother.” I’m not sure who had the idea to change the lyrics of the chorus whether it was Meaux or The Argyles, however I love it and feel it is the best of the three versions. The Argyles also deviated by excluding the guitar break on the Premiers version and shoving in a real nice slice of organ. The Premiers started a trend with their cut of Farmer John by creating a live feel on the recording. The track was supposedly recorded live in the Rhythm Room in Fullerton, California, however they laid down the track in a studio in Hollywood. The Argyles also went after a live feel for their version of Farmer John with laughter and party noises in the background through out the track.

Note the nifty dark red vinyl on this promo copy!

"Turn On Your Love Light"

Later in 1966, The Argyles recorded a second single at Abe Epstein's recording studio and released it on his Jox records label. This one featured two cover songs: "Turn On Your Love Light" (made famous by Houston legend Bobby Bland) b/w "Still In Love With You Baby" (originally written by Ron Elliott of the Beau Brummels).
A rift between Chris Holzhaus and the rest of the band led to his departure. Chris would soon be replaced by Bill Ash from the legendary band The Stoics. Ash then introduced new drummer Andy Szuch to the group.

The new line up changed their name to The Mind's Eye and recorded another single with Abe Epstein, once again releasing it on his Jox imprint. As the new name would suggest, the band ventured into a more psychedelic style at this point with the classic "Help, Im Lost". The flip side would see the group reusing "Still In Love With You Baby".

"Help, I'm Lost"

The band also opened their own eponymously named music venue at this point.
From what I can tell, The Minds Eye was a real hip joint with smoke machines and strobe lights creating one of the first hippie hangouts in San Antonio.
The Mind's Eye club only remained open a few months after pressure mounted from the city to close the place down after allegations of frequent drug use on the premises.

Ben Treiber died in 1969 in a boating accident only three years before Steve Perron passed on, far too young for both of these talented men.
The group went on to form The Children and move to California. The Children released one LP originally released on the local Houston based Cinema label, but was then picked up by national Atco records.

Story originally assembled by Michael Selman and posted at ImShakin.com. Additional editing, research, and writing by Jason Chronis in 2017.
Michael's information source was from a now defunct website: www.saboomie.com. 
Thanks to Sam Kinsey for the Argyles band photo.