How did Revolver & Sgt Pepper Affect Brian?

[KDS]

According to Catch a Wave when Brian heard Strawberry Fields on the radio he said to someone "they did it already.." as in they did what he was wanting to do on Smile.

I could see that.  Sorry Smile fans, but with the possible exception of Surf's Up (which wasn't fully completed until 1971), nothing on Smile compares with Strawberry Fields IMHO. 

Have you heard of a little song called Good Vibrations? Heroes and Villains? Cabin Essence? Wonderful? Wind Chimes? Sorry, Beatles fan, but IMO nothing in the entire Beatles catalog compares with SMiLE (or Pet Sounds for that matter). They tried but they couldn't keep up. I like both A Day in the Life and Strawberry Fields, but musically, they don't even come close.

Good Vibrations is a great song, yes.  I love both bands.  But IMO, H&V, Cabinessence, and Wonderful are great songs, but not in the same ballpark as Day in the Life or Strawberry Fields.  I think Wind Chimes is on the same level as some of the Beatles album tracks from the late 60s. 

[KDS]

Ive heard of some ignorant types saying the ONLY beatles albums that count were the UK ones but wouldn't that be disregarding history?

Ignorant type here - the UK releases are canonical because they are as the artist intended, not butchered by someone in an office 5000 miles away. Suppose EMI did that and gave us Pet Sounds minus the two instrumentals and plus "Devoted To You", "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and "Girl Don't Tell Me". You cool with that ? I'm not.

I would imagine the US versions of the albums really only hold water to those who grew up listening to the songs in that (albeit incorrect) sequence. 

Personally, I'll take the UK versions, as you pointed out, these are the intended versions released by The Beatles. 

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Ive heard of some ignorant types saying the ONLY beatles albums that count were the UK ones but wouldn't that be disregarding history?

Ignorant type here - the UK releases are canonical because they are as the artist intended, not butchered by someone in an office 5000 miles away. Suppose EMI did that and gave us Pet Sounds minus the two instrumentals and plus "Devoted To You", "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and "Girl Don't Tell Me". You cool with that ? I'm not.

Yes, but I do think kookadams has a point here. I agree that it was a shame that Capitol Records mangled up the Beatles artistic intentions in their mish-mashing of their pre-1967 albums. But nevertheless, those mishmashes shouldn't just be written off - after all, the American audience was larger than the British one. This was the way that the band was received in the 60s by millions of fans -- this was how the audience heard them, and these were the records that undeniably played a major role in the trajectory of 1960s music. So regardless of whether or not they are authentic, they are nevertheless important.

[Jukka]

Well put, Shakey. And I rather enjoy the American Rubber Soul. Nice, folky vibe. Almost as good an album as its British counterpart.