MINNEAPOLIS — It just says "Daryl Hall" on the marquee. There's no "and" or ampersand in the billing. But there should be.
Even though Hall — the tall, blond singer in Hall & Oates — is undertaking a rare concert tour to explore his solo work, he's really a collaborator at heart. That's why he has old pal Todd Rundgren touring with him.
"I love collaboration," said Hall, who comes to the State Theatre in Minneapolis on Tuesday. "I like that feeling when you get into somebody's head and they get into your head and something happens that's bigger. It eggs me on in different directions, and I do like that because I have a lot of musical loves."
Aware of each other since their teenage musician years in suburban Philadelphia, Hall and Rundgren ran in different circles — soul scene and rock clubs, respectively — but didn't meet until both moved to New York City in the mid-1970s.
They connected at a screening of the movie "Fantasia." "That's when I said: 'You want to work together?'" Hall recalled. They came up with the concept for Hall & Oates' third album, the newly rock-oriented "War Babies," produced by Rundgren.
Hall, 76, has enjoyed teaming up with fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Rundgren, 74, a cohort, on and off, for years.
"I like his sensibilities. He's very easy to work with," Hall said. "He thinks the same way musically as I do. He's a maverick, he's eclectic. He's a fantastically talented musician."
Hall is celebrating his new retrospective "Before After," which features 30 selections from his five solo discs as well as performances from his acclaimed web series, "Live From Daryl's House."
"I speak a lot of languages musically," he said recently from his home in Connecticut. "And why not. It's all notes and melodies and grooves."
With his solo projects, Hall wasn't required by a record label to craft songs that had radio or commercial appeal.
"When doing stuff under the Hall & Oates name, I was sort of channeled into that. When I was doing the other stuff, nobody took it seriously, so they let me do whatever I wanted to do. I'm very influenced by the people I work with."
He viewed his solo endeavors as collaborations with producers, such as Robert Fripp of King Crimson and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics.
While working in London with Stewart in 1985 or '86, Hall invited a friend who happened to be in town to join them for a song called "Right as Rain."
"Here's the stupid part: I had Joni Mitchell in the studio and I had her sing background," Hall remembered. "Why didn't I write a song with her at that moment? It's quite stupid. We had her playing drums."
There are other collaborators on "Before After," including Monte Montgomery, Rundgren and Stewart, on "Live From Daryl's House" tracks.
Streamed periodically from 2007 until 2020, "Live From Daryl's House" was about organic collaborations as musicians traveled to Hall's home or nightclub in upstate New York to jam. The program featured a range of guests, including Smokey Robinson, Cheap Trick, Toots & the Maytals, Elle King, Chris Daughtry and Darius Rucker.
The show was about musicians playing, not performing.
"I learned how much I loved spontaneity," Hall said. "It's a test and a challenge how you can rise to various occasions."
Hall felt these spontaneous performances showed people who he really is.
"There was a lot of misconceptions about what kind of artist I really was and what my motivations were," he said. "It showed people how I live, where I live. I know it changed people's perceptions. I'm much more comfortable with the world now than I was before that."
In concert, Hall will delve into his solo material, offer a few Hall & Oates tunes and share the stage with Rundgren.
"I have the Daryl's House band and they back up Todd in his set and then I do my set and we do some stuff together. We're so compatible musically. It's a rare combination."
In 2012, he brought a "Live From Daryl's House"-like concert to Minneapolis featuring guests Allen Stone and the late Sharon Jones in a most memorable night of soul music.
Soul music is Hall's bread and butter. He defines it as "crying in tune."
"I've been around soul music my whole life. It's in the air. My dad was in a vocal group and my mom sang in a band and sang in church. When I was very young, there was street corner music or doo-wop, which was very vocally oriented."
Hall pursued his own brand of soul music with John Oates, whom he met in 1967 when they were in rival Philly bands. The two Temple University students became roommates (Hall & Oates was on the mailbox) and eventually formed a musical duo, releasing their debut on Atlantic Records in 1972.
Their second album, "Abandoned Luncheonette," took off in the Twin Cities in 1973 with the song "She's Gone," but Hall & Oates' music didn't make a dent nationally until three years later with "Sara Smile." They went on to become one of the most successful duos in rock history, with such MTV-era triumphs as "Maneater" and "You Make My Dreams."
In 2014, Hall & Oates were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 17 years after they were first eligible.
"I had mixed feelings about it," Hall said of the honor. "I have a funny relationship with the music business. The cadre who decides who's in and who's not in are not my friends. Having said that, I'm glad to be in it."
Hall has no plans to write a memoir a la Oates, who offered "Change of Seasons" in 2017.
"I have a book deal, but it won't be a memoir. It will be another kind of book," Hall said. "I'm a man of many stories."
He prefers to spend his non-music time restoring his 18th-century homes in London, Maine, New York and Connecticut. Renovation of his Connecticut farmhouse was the focus of the 2014 TV show "Daryl's Restoration Over-Hall" on DIY Network.
Next year, Hall will revive "Live From Daryl's House," which has been dormant since the pandemic. He's already recorded two new episodes, but his team is working on how the series will be released.
As for plans for Hall & Oates, who have toured regularly for the past decade, there are none.
"We're on hiatus," said Hall, who performed with Oates in 2019 at the Minnesota State Fair. "We're not doing anything."
Instead, Hall expects to finish an album he's been making with Stewart.
"We got about three-quarters the way through it and I got so busy, we stopped. We'll resume in January. I'm working on new music with various people, mostly with Dave. He is a powerhouse. He eggs me on."
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