After lending his songwriting skills to rockers like Carlos Santana and Willie Nelson, Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas is finally having the favor returned.
Mick Jagger, who enlisted Thomas to co-write "Visions of Paradise" for his recent solo album, Goddess in the Doorway, has co-written a track with Thomas for the next Matchbox Twenty record and may sing on it.
"We're talking about him coming in to do background vocals," Thomas said last week at Clive Davis' annual Grammy Eve party (click for photos from the event). "But you never know, it's so hard to get things scheduled sometimes."
The track written by the songwriting team is called "I Got a Disease" and will be recorded by Thomas and his Matchbox Twenty bandmates when they return to the studio in July to record their third album.
Matt Serletic, the producer behind 1996's Yourself or Someone Like You and 2000's Mad Season, will again be working with the band, despite his recent agreement to run Virgin Records.
"Matt is one of my best friends, and part of his contract allows for him to record Matchbox Twenty records, so that's very nice," Thomas said.
Although Thomas' bandmates are spread around the country, he said they've been working on material for a few months. "We have a list of like 100 songs," he said. "It comes down to a time when you need to make a little list out of the big list, so we're starting to get into that stage now. You know, 'What do I really like? If I had to pick 12 songs what would they be?' "
Like his Santana hit "Smooth," some of the new material has been inspired by Thomas' wife of two years, Marisol. "Sometimes we'll have a fight, and I have to go write about it," he said with a laugh, followed by an elbow from his wife, who walked the red carpet with her husband.
Nelson, whose January release feature three songs written by Thomas, may also appear on the Matchbox Twenty album. "If he's around [the studio], I'll make him play guitar for sure," Thomas said.
- Corey Moss