Wood is best remembered as the songwriter of the 1920s hit "Somebody Stole My Gal". He wrote lyrics for many of the top songwriters of the day, including Theodore F. Morse. Other popular songs written by Wood include the Paul Whiteman jazz standard "Wang Wang Blues", "Runnin' Wild", and "Play that 'Song of India' Again", a number-one hit for five weeks for Whiteman in 1921. He also wrote "Mean Old Bed Bug Blues," under the pseudonym Jack Wood.
