Beatles listening to part of Smile at Armen Steiner's studio: what happened?

[MBE]

It's funny Bruce told me on the BBB that he doubted "My World Fell Down" "crossed Brian's radar".

[hypehat]

Simply, no Beatle was in the USA between late summer 1966 and spring 1967, ergo, couldn't have happened.

According to all the well researched Beatles day-by-day accounts that may be true, but on the other side, Paul and Neil Aspinall both stated Macca had the idea for the whole Sgt. Pepper-concept on a flight back from LA to London.

i read it was on a trip round europe with Mal or someone like that. I think Van Dyke is barking up the wrong tree with this one. It's not like Derek taylor (that was the only connection between the two, right?) would deliberately sabotage however many months of hard promo work by letting the beatles get the upper hand, even if they were in LA (which we know isn't true).

[A Million Units In Jan!]

Still irrelevant - Smiley Smile was recorded June-July 1967. Pepper was released June 1st

Oh, silly me - of course... The Beatles had a time machine. That explains everything.

It's getting a bit Bloo-ish around here: someone makes a spurious point, which is refuted with checkable facts, so they go off at another groundless tangent. And so on, and so on...

You're right. You're always right. We should just all stop posting and let you do it all. Because we would hate to just sort of discuss 'What if's' for fun, and have you show up, post the 'facts', and have us dare to question them. Sorry to dissapoint you.

[Dove Nested Towers]

Simply, no Beatle was in the USA between late summer 1966 and spring 1967, ergo, couldn't have happened.

According to all the well researched Beatles day-by-day accounts that may be true, but on the other side, Paul and Neil Aspinall both stated Macca had the idea for the whole Sgt. Pepper-concept on a flight back from LA to London. And, correct me if I'm wrong, that had to be somewhere between the summer 1966 "Good Vibrations" and the April 1967 "Vega-Tables"-meetings, somewhere between late December 1966 + late February 1967.
I don't believe in the 'Beatles heard SMiLE-tapes' theory, but it wouldn't surprise me if Derek Taylor told the guys what the BB were up to. That doesn't mean that the Fab Four copied anything the BB did. The animals for example were inspired by a 1966 Corn Flakes commercial, which BTW was available on YouTube a while ago.

The main "vibe" that existed between members of the Beatles and Brian was one of mutual respect,
innocent, even naive trust and reciprocal inspiration. Obviously Paul went to and chomped vegetables
in the recording session for same, played "A Day in the Life" over the phone for Brian, etc. One would
assume that Derek Taylor, by all accounts a class act, wouldn't betray his new loyalties in favor of his old ones in any unethical way, which just makes this anecdote, told pretty specifically to Priore by
Parks, strange and incongruous. He said he and Brian were told, presumably by the staff, that "The
Beatles had been there", and moved the tapes out of the studio in response. Odd, if it douldn't have
happened. Maybe Paul never referenced it through the years because he felt some contrition and pangs of conscience about some behavior of his at the time. I don't necessarily think that his silence is
adequate criteria for saying that nothing questionable of any kind happened.

Insofar as Pepper is concerned, they obviously didn't need additional musical inspiration other than the desire to assert their avant-garde supremacy in this short-lived, fecund, envelope-pushing period which Brian wound up not being a key figure in, at least after PS and GV, when he could have reached a glorious, triumphant peak with the completion and release of his stillborn, epic magnum opus.

That's my last word on the subject, unless further information ever comes to light (I can hear the sigh of relief from the "don't beat a dead horse" contingent loud and clear).

[Rocker]

As for sound effects: those had appeared on plently of pop songs prior to the "SMiLE" recordings including the Beach Boys' own "409" and "Be True To Your School".

"Be true to your school"? I don't know what you are talking about exactly. The Cheerleaders? Wouldn't count them as "sound effect". But you're right on the whole.
Jan&Dean also used sound effects much earlier than '66/'67. The '66 Batman-album has some cool ones.



Special mentioning of "Caroline, no"'s end ! If the Beatles' took the idea for animal-sounds from the Beach Boys, what would be more probable? The barking dog at the end of Pet Sounds, which they have heard and at least in Paul's case were blown away by, or the sounds on "Barnyard" which they couldn't have heard by that point...? Hm, tough question....

[Andrew G. Doe]

Still irrelevant - Smiley Smile was recorded June-July 1967. Pepper was released June 1st

Oh, silly me - of course... The Beatles had a time machine. That explains everything.

It's getting a bit Bloo-ish around here: someone makes a spurious point, which is refuted with checkable facts, so they go off at another groundless tangent. And so on, and so on...

You're right. You're always right. We should just all stop posting and let you do it all. Because we would hate to just sort of discuss 'What if's' for fun, and have you show up, post the 'facts', and have us dare to question them. Sorry to dissapoint you.

Envy is a most unattractive emotion. 

[Mr. Cohen]

Van Dyke's assertions show, if anything, Brian's powerful ability (at the time) to draw people into his own paranoias. Van Dyke is not the only one from the SMiLE era to say crazy stuff like that. Others talk about how Brian had them really believing that his house was bugged (By Phil Spector? The Beatles? His Dad? All Three?), for example. He was a powerful figure in the mid-60s, and even the fanaticism around SMiLE in his own circle at the time shows how much people believed in Brian Wilson. Like Van Dyke said, the first thing he thought when heard the BWPS recordings in 2004 was that SMiLE was a lot 'smaller' than he remembered, not as expansive. They thought they were going to change the face of the world with music. It was a time of irrational beliefs.

The only influences from the Beach Boys I hear in Sgt. Pepper are from Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations" ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" sounds influenced by "Good Vibrations" to me, which would then be followed by the Stones "She's Like A Rainbow", forming a triumvirate of acid love songs). If the strongest evidence of the Beatles hearing SMiLE in '66/early '67 is animal noises on "Good Morning", then the whole argument is moot. Besides, fucking animal sounds? Who cares? It's not that big of deal. I never understood what was so brilliant and experimental about that idea. I think George Martin still pats himself on the back everyday for helping John Lennon see that idea through. It will probably be on his tombstone: "I produced the fucking animal sounds on "Good Morning", enough said."

[Andy B]

Just a couple of thoughts while i'm thinking!!

1) I think it has been stated in the Paul Williams conversations with David Anderle that Smile was a very personal voyage of discovery for both Brian and Van Dyke. The intimacy that these two shared in the writing process was perhaps what made most of the music so very special. But sometimes i get a sense when Van Dyke has spoken of the Smile era that somehow he felt betrayed, that the bond between the two creators was not allowed to fulfill it's potential. Whether it was the Beach Boys or the many hangers on, that drew the wedge between Brian, himself and the album it doesn't really matter. But what is apparent and this has possibily intensified over the years with the many bootlegs is that Van had lost the bond with Smile. It was longer his own work, but has become tainted and abused by the many myths and stories that his own personal feeling about the music and his involvement no longer matters. This was probably somewhat rectified when he was called back to work on BWPS, but i can't help feeling that Van has always resented not the fact that Smile didn't come out, but that he wasn't allowed to finish the job and that perhaps some other band did.

So having said that it's quite possible that he has cynical feelings about those times. Such as people (The Beatles!!) stealing the music/ideas that he and Brian lovingly crafted. Perhaps it was paranoia, or maybe someone fed him a story, but i do believe that somehow he believes that The Beatles did sneak a preview of their work and that it is just another example to him of the lack of privacy afforded to them. Which perhaps leads to point 2;

2) The studios of LA were not closed shops. They didn't seem to have locks on the doors when recording sessions were in flow. Many people attended the sessions, many of which had no real ties to the artists themselves, other than they knew a friend of a friend, or that they were a musician etc. Spector had loads of people at his sessions, in fact he thrived on them being there. There's the stories of Brian and Gary Usher hearing a Curt Boettcher session and being blown away. Frank Zappa had a whole army at his sessions. The point is that if anyone wanted to hear what was going on, could and most probably would, just by going down the studio. The studio was where it was at. Forget live performances. Read the Jules Siegel article about the Fire session and you have an example.

What i'm saying is that Brians Smile music was probably as well known to the many people around Brian as it was to him and Van Dyke. The multitudes of acetates, listening parties, just Brian talking about it, would spread the word. The Beatles or whoever didn't need to have sneaky visits to locked up vaults to hear about the music. The people around Brian and Van Dyke most likely did it for them. And that would surely be where the influence (if any) came from. George Martin himself said in Beautiful Dreamer that he and the Beatles heard about Smile.......then it never appeared. Just the same for everyone else then.

[Menace Wilson]

Van Dyke Parks says in Priore's Smile book that some Beatles went to Armen Steiner's studio at
Yucca and Argyle in L.A., where the Smile tapes were stored, and listened to "Smile, in part, the
first eight-track. We walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there. We knew that the nest had been found, and Brian was very sad. He felt violated, raped."

This doesn't sound like a vague recollection of half-remembered, paranoid conspiracy theory though.  This comes across as a distinct and painful memory, with a specific location, etc.  VPD places himself in the scene with the words "we walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there."  That sentence doesn't sound like it's based on a mutual use of sound effects. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Van Dyke Parks says in Priore's Smile book that some Beatles went to Armen Steiner's studio at
Yucca and Argyle in L.A., where the Smile tapes were stored, and listened to "Smile, in part, the
first eight-track. We walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there. We knew that the nest had been found, and Brian was very sad. He felt violated, raped."

This doesn't sound like a vague recollection of half-remembered, paranoid conspiracy theory though.  This comes across as a distinct and painful memory, with a specific location, etc.  VPD places himself in the scene with the words "we walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there."  That sentence doesn't sound like it's based on a mutual use of sound effects. 

The problem I have with that quote is with the "eight-track" part. Steiner's studio couldn't play eight-track tapes in 1966/67 - Columbia had the only 8-track in town. Remember, VDP also said, in the same book, that he went round to Brian to get him to finish up "SO,S" in 1972 - with his Walkman !

[Dancing Bear]

Van Dyke Parks says in Priore's Smile book that some Beatles went to Armen Steiner's studio at
Yucca and Argyle in L.A., where the Smile tapes were stored, and listened to "Smile, in part, the
first eight-track. We walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there. We knew that the nest had been found, and Brian was very sad. He felt violated, raped."

This doesn't sound like a vague recollection of half-remembered, paranoid conspiracy theory though.  This comes across as a distinct and painful memory, with a specific location, etc.  VPD places himself in the scene with the words "we walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there."  That sentence doesn't sound like it's based on a mutual use of sound effects. 

Oh, I don't doubt Vand Dyke already believed this crap in '66 or '67. You had to be there, man! It STILL doesn't mean it actually happend. He says he hung out a bit with Lennon in '74, I hope he confronted the former Beatle about it. 

[Dove Nested Towers]

Van Dyke Parks says in Priore's Smile book that some Beatles went to Armen Steiner's studio at
Yucca and Argyle in L.A., where the Smile tapes were stored, and listened to "Smile, in part, the
first eight-track. We walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there. We knew that the nest had been found, and Brian was very sad. He felt violated, raped."

This doesn't sound like a vague recollection of half-remembered, paranoid conspiracy theory though.  This comes across as a distinct and painful memory, with a specific location, etc.  VPD places himself in the scene with the words "we walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there."  That sentence doesn't sound like it's based on a mutual use of sound effects. 

Bingo, Menace! Although your post was eloquent, Dada, and your point is well taken, there is a big difference between a sharing, open environment during recording sessions during a fertile, open era, and members of a gigantically famous rival band visiting a facility where its competition's recordings are stored and requesting access to them without explicit permission from that music's creator. Granted,
this was a time when these types of privacy issues had not become important and were not really on
everyone's radar yet, and whatever Van Dyke and Brian did or didn't experience, it felt like a violation to them as artists and a loss of whatever communal innocence and inter-band trust had been established, at least at the time. Brian has completely put any such episode behing him or forgotten about it, Paul isn't talking if there is anything to talk about, and Parks obviously is expressing his thoughts and feelings after years of justified, pent-up frustration (although he has of course moved on with his life completely, it's natural that he still has emotions, especially since he has compartmentalized it for years and hasn't talked much about it, either out of respect for Brian's sensitivity to the subject or his own reticence), he has a biographer to tell his side more completely to, the album has been released (sort of) and Brian has come to terms with it, making him feel more free to expound at length.

There is a ring of specificity to the anecdote, Menace, to my mind also. Priore has said that he included
it in the book because it was "important to Van Dyke", and of course he may just have been caught up in Brian's potent paranoia, but, almost like a traumatic repressed memory that is either real or
not, its real for him.

I vowed to not say anything more about it here, but some vows are made to be broken.

[Dove Nested Towers]

Van Dyke Parks says in Priore's Smile book that some Beatles went to Armen Steiner's studio at
Yucca and Argyle in L.A., where the Smile tapes were stored, and listened to "Smile, in part, the
first eight-track. We walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there. We knew that the nest had been found, and Brian was very sad. He felt violated, raped."

This doesn't sound like a vague recollection of half-remembered, paranoid conspiracy theory though.  This comes across as a distinct and painful memory, with a specific location, etc.  VPD places himself in the scene with the words "we walked into the place and heard that The Beatles had been there."  That sentence doesn't sound like it's based on a mutual use of sound effects. 

The problem I have with that quote is with the "eight-track" part. Steiner's studio couldn't play eight-track tapes in 1966/67 - Columbia had the only 8-track in town. Remember, VDP also said, in the same book, that he went round to Brian to get him to finish up "SO,S" in 1972 - with his Walkman !

The technological incongruities in Van Dyke's mental database are irresolvable, Andrew, I agree.

[Sheriff John Stone]

But what is apparent and this has possibily intensified over the years with the many bootlegs is that Van had lost the bond with Smile. It was longer his own work, but has become tainted and abused by the many myths and stories that his own personal feeling about the music and his involvement no longer matters. This was probably somewhat rectified when he was called back to work on BWPS, but i can't help feeling that Van has always resented not the fact that Smile didn't come out, but that he wasn't allowed to finish the job and that perhaps some other band did.

Really good post, Andy B. I picked out a portion of it to comment on.

If Van Dyke felt that SMiLE "has become tainted and abused by the many myths and stories that his own personal feeling about the music and his involvement no longer matters" - and I agree with most of that point - well, he could've and still could do something about it. He could address and "straighten out" those myths and stories. Van Dyke never seems to suffer from a lack of words, but, to the best of my knowledge, has never sat down FOR A LENGHTY QUESTION AND ANSWER INTERVIEW regarding SMiLE, not in the subsequent 42 years, which I still find hard to believe. Do you think he has been approached? I have read statements here and there, but never any follow-up questions addressing his comment(s); maybe that's the fault of the interviewers. How many threads were started on this message board alone, wondering about this song or that song, but there was little or no information on file from Van Dyke Parks (or Brian) to inform us. And, of course, we wouldn't even think of asking Van Dyke or Brian about it; couldn't do that. What I have read from Van Dyke has been some praise and positivity, but mostly criticism and negativity. That's sad, really.

Andy, you also wrote, "Van has always resented not the fact that SMiLE didn't come out, but that he wasn't allowed to finish the job and that perhaps some other band did." Not disagreeing with you Andy, but, not ALLOWED to finish the job"? Who's fault was that? Was he fired? Did Brian ask him to leave? Did he accept an offer for a solo album? Yeah, it was that no-talent Mike Love's questions and objections that forced him out. And Van Dyke was sure to make THAT known over the years.

Van Dyke has picked and choosed (or chosen?) the points that he wanted to make about SMiLE over the years; he's been very selective. Come on, Van Dyke, sit down and answer ALL of the fans questions. It wouldn't take that long. You could do it in one afternoon or one evening. Straighten out the myths and falsities. Clear it with Brian; he probably wouldn't care anyway. Van Dyke doesn't have a wife who posts here, does he?

[Dove Nested Towers]

But what is apparent and this has possibily intensified over the years with the many bootlegs is that Van had lost the bond with Smile. It was longer his own work, but has become tainted and abused by the many myths and stories that his own personal feeling about the music and his involvement no longer matters. This was probably somewhat rectified when he was called back to work on BWPS, but i can't help feeling that Van has always resented not the fact that Smile didn't come out, but that he wasn't allowed to finish the job and that perhaps some other band did.

Really good post, Andy B. I picked out a portion of it to comment on.

If Van Dyke felt that SMiLE "has become tainted and abused by the many myths and stories that his own personal feeling about the music and his involvement no longer matters" - and I agree with most of that point - well, he could've and still could do something about it. He could address and "straighten out" those myths and stories. Van Dyke never seems to suffer from a lack of words, but, to the best of my knowledge, has never sat down FOR A LENGHTY QUESTION AND ANSWER INTERVIEW regarding SMiLE, not in the subsequent 42 years, which I still find hard to believe. Do you think he has been approached? I have read statements here and there, but never any follow-up questions addressing his comment(s); maybe that's the fault of the interviewers. How many threads were started on this message board alone, wondering about this song or that song, but there was little or no information on file from Van Dyke Parks (or Brian) to inform us. And, of course, we wouldn't even think of asking Van Dyke or Brian about it; couldn't do that. What I have read from Van Dyke has been some praise and positivity, but mostly criticism and negativity. That's sad, really.

Andy, you also wrote, "Van has always resented not the fact that SMiLE didn't come out, but that he wasn't allowed to finish the job and that perhaps some other band did." Not disagreeing with you Andy, but, not ALLOWED to finish the job"? Who's fault was that? Was he fired? Did Brian ask him to leave? Did he accept an offer for a solo album? Yeah, it was that no-talent Mike Love's questions and objections that forced him out. And Van Dyke was sure to make THAT known over the years.

Van Dyke has picked and choosed (or chosen?) the points that he wanted to make about SMiLE over the years; he's been very selective. Come on, Van Dyke, sit down and answer ALL of the fans questions. It wouldn't take that long. You could do it in one afternoon or one evening. Straighten out the myths and falsities. Clear it with Brian; he probably wouldn't care anyway. Van Dyke doesn't have a wife who posts here, does he?

He may be torn between wanting to leave it all behind him once and for all (next to impossible) and
setting the record straight, and the lengthy interview session with Priore for his book was as close
as he wanted to come, dredging up old scars as it did (as well as hopefully providing catharsis). BWPS must have opened up old wounds, as well as being positive and giving him some closure. I wonder how much there really is left to say?

[Sheriff John Stone]

I wonder how much there really is left to say?

I think there is much left to say, not necessarily about the political crap that went down (though that would be fascinating), but about the music, lyrics, production, sessions, and maybe even the overall concept/sequence. I mean, just look at our threads and all of the unanswered questions that come up; good, valid questions. Granted, Brian would have, if not more, at least as much to offer. But really, after Brian, who knows as much about SMiLE than Van Dyke Parks? He knows that too...

[Andrew G. Doe]

Been re-reading Dom's book, and something interesting emerged. On p.112, right after it being stated that on April 29 1967 Capitol were told by Brian that the next BB single would not be "H&V" but rather "Vega-Tables", comes this paragraph (emphasis added):

"This, in fact, was a ploy that showed how serious Brian Wilson, David Anderle and The Beach Boys were in breaking from Capitol. The master tapes, for the time being, were oddly stored catercorner from the Capitol Records parking lot (and across from KFWB) at Armen Steiner's Sound Labs studio*."

For the time being. Not "for some time", or "for several months" - "for the time being", that is, temporarily. So, now we have a date for the tapes in question being at the studio in question: April 1967, and according to the book, they'd not been there long.

The Pepper sessions wrapped the first week in April 1967 (overdubs to existing tracks) and by mid month, the mixing was well under way. Taking the book itself as evidence, the famous covert listening session, even had it occurred, couldn't possibly have influenced the essential music and overall form of the album.

[* - actually it was Sound Recorders, which AS operated from 1965-71: Sound Labs was from 1971-80]

[A Million Units In Jan!]

You know, I never really thought it was the Beatles style to rip anyone off. Seems to me that they'd acknowledge where they got their inspiration from, if indeed they did get inspiration from SMiLE-which, most people have agreed, never happened in the first place.
You know, VDP has brass onions to flat out say that the Beatles stole from SMiLE. If I was an Paul or Ringo, and I worked hard on that album, and 40 years later a guy says 'you know, The Beatles came in without our knowledge, listened to SMiLE tapes, and then made Sgt. Pepper', I'd be a little bit pissed off.  That's why I think that VDP really believes that it happened, although since it's 40 years on, he must have his events confused. Or a case of sour grapes.
Of all the people who have championed SMiLE over the years, David Anderle always comes to the fore. He's always been passionate about the music. It seems like if the discussed event really took place, he also would have mentioned it, as something like that strikes me as being something that would greatly offend him.

[Andy B]

But what is apparent and this has possibily intensified over the years with the many bootlegs is that Van had lost the bond with Smile. It was longer his own work, but has become tainted and abused by the many myths and stories that his own personal feeling about the music and his involvement no longer matters. This was probably somewhat rectified when he was called back to work on BWPS, but i can't help feeling that Van has always resented not the fact that Smile didn't come out, but that he wasn't allowed to finish the job and that perhaps some other band did.

Andy, you also wrote, "Van has always resented not the fact that SMiLE didn't come out, but that he wasn't allowed to finish the job and that perhaps some other band did." Not disagreeing with you Andy, but, not ALLOWED to finish the job"? Who's fault was that? Was he fired? Did Brian ask him to leave? Did he accept an offer for a solo album? Yeah, it was that no-talent Mike Love's questions and objections that forced him out. And Van Dyke was sure to make THAT known over the years.

Van Dyke has picked and choosed (or chosen?) the points that he wanted to make about SMiLE over the years; he's been very selective. Come on, Van Dyke, sit down and answer ALL of the fans questions. It wouldn't take that long. You could do it in one afternoon or one evening. Straighten out the myths and falsities. Clear it with Brian; he probably wouldn't care anyway. Van Dyke doesn't have a wife who posts here, does he?

Yeah Van Dyke has definitley held back over the years, and i think he has done for two reasons. First out of loyalty to Brian (he possibily alone knew how much Brian was hurt by smile not coming out - why intensify that hurt by talking about it? - Maybe the odd soundbite has come out over the years simply out of frustration), and secondly because of guilt. He openly admits in Beautiful Dreamer that he and his cohorts - Anderle, Vosse, Siegel etc - all fled when the going got tough. Instead of fighting his corner he high tailed thinking his job was done, when perhaps deep down he knew it wasn't. On the one hand he was just the hired lyricist, but on the other he and Brian knew that what they had together (and they still do) was something special and that it should have been something worth fighting over.

Whatever the reason Van left Brian is in this context irrelevant. The fact is he did leave Brian, and he has most likely resented that decision ever since.

[Andrew G. Doe]

My father, rest his soul, had a favorite saying: "it's a wise man who knows when to say **** it". I see no dishonor in bailing on a hopeless situation.

[Dove Nested Towers]

Been re-reading Dom's book, and something interesting emerged. On p.112, right after it being stated that on April 29 1967 Capitol were told by Brian that the next BB single would not be "H&V" but rather "Vega-Tables", comes this paragraph (emphasis added):

"This, in fact, was a ploy that showed how serious Brian Wilson, David Anderle and The Beach Boys were in breaking from Capitol. The master tapes, for the time being, were oddly stored catercorner from the Capitol Records parking lot (and across from KFWB) at Armen Steiner's Sound Labs studio*."

For the time being. Not "for some time", or "for several months" - "for the time being", that is, temporarily. So, now we have a date for the tapes in question being at the studio in question: April 1967, and according to the book, they'd not been there long.

The Pepper sessions wrapped the first week in April 1967 (overdubs to existing tracks) and by mid month, the mixing was well under way. Taking the book itself as evidence, the famous covert listening session, even had it occurred, couldn't possibly have influenced the essential music and overall form of the album.

[* - actually it was Sound Recorders, which AS operated from 1965-71: Sound Labs was from 1971-80]

I just want to reiterate, once again, that I am not particularly interested in whether or not The Beatles
stole influences from Smile in the making of Sgt. Pepper, I just introduced the thread because several
posters had said dismissively that clandestine listening couldn't possibly have taken place, and that
directly contradicted Van Dyke's statements, which was interesting, so I wanted to open up that discussion a bit more, that's all. World peace, anyone?

[Andrew G. Doe]

And... I'm just pointing out - with evidence from several sources, including from within Dom's book itself - that said covert listening simply could not have taken place at all (and even if it did - yeah, I know, undermining myself - it was too late to influence The Beatles' new album).

Sorted - world peace and candy bars all round. Maybe a trip to P.O.P. too. 

[Menace Wilson]

Assuming that this story isn't true, and that there's no possible way that the Beatles could have heard those tapes...

Why would Van say that Brian felt "raped"?  If not by The Beatles, then by whom?  Or is Van just being dramatic?

[A Million Units In Jan!]

Assuming that this story isn't true, and that there's no possible way that the Beatles could have heard those tapes...

Why would Van say that Brian felt "raped"?  If not by The Beatles, then by whom?  Or is Van just being dramatic?

Does he actually say 'raped'? It's been awhile since I've read the book, but I don't recall that. That would be a little bit over the top, it seems....

[The Song Of The Grange]

Been re-reading Dom's book, and something interesting emerged. On p.112, right after it being stated that on April 29 1967 Capitol were told by Brian that the next BB single would not be "H&V" but rather "Vega-Tables", comes this paragraph (emphasis added):

"This, in fact, was a ploy that showed how serious Brian Wilson, David Anderle and The Beach Boys were in breaking from Capitol. The master tapes, for the time being, were oddly stored catercorner from the Capitol Records parking lot (and across from KFWB) at Armen Steiner's Sound Labs studio*."

For the time being. Not "for some time", or "for several months" - "for the time being", that is, temporarily. So, now we have a date for the tapes in question being at the studio in question: April 1967, and according to the book, they'd not been there long.

The Pepper sessions wrapped the first week in April 1967 (overdubs to existing tracks) and by mid month, the mixing was well under way. Taking the book itself as evidence, the famous covert listening session, even had it occurred, couldn't possibly have influenced the essential music and overall form of the album.

[* - actually it was Sound Recorders, which AS operated from 1965-71: Sound Labs was from 1971-80]

Mr. Doe, I great piece of detective work here.  Thank you.