Photos by Arnie Goodman
Naked Blue, a duo of Scott Smith and Jennifer Fergurson Smith, lately joined by percussionist Thomas Fridrich and bassist Eric Scott, spent a show-and-tell evening at The Loft at City Winery with writer Lee Child, author of the action-packed Jack Reacher novels popularized for the masses by actor-turned-stuntman Tom Cruise, as Jack Reacher.
Child and the Smiths became friendly when Child loved the Rattlesnake Guitar CD, a tribute to guitarist Peter Green, and discovered Scott Smith was a fan of the Jack Reacher series. A match made across genres, Child began writing lyrics for Naked Blue’s songs, and Naked Blue provided Jack Reacher soundtracks.
As if there weren’t enough symbiosis to go around, at our table alone, photographer Arnie Goodman had produced the Rattlesnake Guitar CD, and Elmore senior writer Howard Leibowitz and Brooklyn Roads executive brought Naked Blue to Goodman’s Viceroy Records label, acting as Naked Blue’s manager.
Among the several newsworthy items dropped as asides between songs: former President Bill Clinton will be at Child’s booksigning event in Manhattan, and Jack Reacher will retire from the silver screen to become a cable-TV series.
The things one learns at a wine bar.
One quibble: I doubt Tom Cruise’s outing as Jack Reacher has much to do with Lee Child’s success — it’s the books that have built his audience. Tom Cruise’s outing as Reacher demonstrated all too clearly what Reacher’s fans knew in advance would be the case: Cruise was not in the least bit suited for the role. (And I say that as a fan of Cruise’s movies in general.) Presumably that’s why he hasn’t tried again.
Cruise starred in two Reacher flicks, and now Reacher’s headed for the small screen. Although Cruise is physically unfit for the role (i.e., not 6’5″, 250#), Child ultimately approved the choice. I agree completely that the books succeed without the films, but a star as popular as Tom Cruise and an extravagant ad campaign for a major motion picture must surely have introduced some folks to the book series. Sorry I was not clearer–not doing my job!