In December 1965, the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" album was released to wide critical acclaim. According to author David Howard, the limits of pop music "had been raised into the stratosphere" by the release, resulting in a shift in focus away from singles to creating albums of consistently high quality. The following January, the Beatles carried out overdubs on live recordings taken from their 1965 US tour, for inclusion in the concert film "The Beatles at Shea Stadium". The group's manager, Brian Epstein, had intended that 1966 would then follow the pattern of the previous two years, in terms of the band making a feature film and an accompanying album, followed by concert tours during the summer months. After the Beatles vetoed the proposed film project, the time allocated for filming became a further three months free of professional engagements. This was the longest period the band members had experienced outside the group collective since 1962, Through these experiences, the two musicians developed a fascination for Eastern philosophical concepts, The idea was abandoned after locals began descending on the Stax building, as were alternative plans to use either Atlantic Studios in New York or Motown's Hitsville USA facility in Detroit.