A song lost in time, becomes a hit 50 years after its release

A record with an AMAZING story 

    If you watch TV a lot, chances are you've seen this Bacardi House Party commercial. Initially aired in 2015, this fun looking commercial was backed up by a killer Teener / Garage sounding song, but no one knew what it was called! This is the story of "Born To Wander."

    In 1966, Jack Woods began playing gigs at a bar in Grand Rapids, Michigan only making $10 a night! A frequent costumer of the bar complimented Jack on his voice and suggested he make a record; he noticed Jack's musical ability. The idea flowed nicely in Jack's head as he had already written up some songs. Around 2 weeks later on a Sunday afternoon, he wrote "Born To Wander" in around 20 minutes! Seeing potential in the song, he rehearsed it for a few hours with a local band. Jack found 2 black girls for background vocals and spent no more than a few hours practicing with them and the group. 

    A few weeks later, Jack booked a Sunday session at an abandoned theater in Sparta, Michigan. Jack knew a great Bari sax player and her agreed to play on the session. Then, Jack got the idea for Timpani's on the record - so the Friday before the recording session, he called the Sparta HS Band Director asking for a Timpani player. The band director did have one and sent him to play at the session on Sunday. It only took a few hours to make "Born To Wander" a record. To make it a complete single, the group played a song written by Jack's brother called "So Sad." Each of the band members got $25 and the Timpani player $10. The whole session costed $250, and got Jack 100 singles pressed up.

    Yielding only a few weeks of airtime on AM radio, the record really went nowhere. Most were given out to customers in different bars and also to several girlfriends. This record was forgotten almost as quickly as it was created... at least until 50 years later. 

    In the spring of 2015, Jack received a phone call from a record collector who had bought a copy of "Born to Wander" at a garage sale and wanted an autograph. In shock, as Jack himself pretty much forgot about the record - he didn't think anyone else knew about it. Jack met with the collector and autographed his record, and then went home to do research. To his big surprise, the record has been circulating among collectors for years, with copies selling for up to $1,500 to $2,000! The story doesn't end here. Later in 2015, Jack received a call from BBDO in New York City (one of the words largest advertising agencies.) The company said they were working on a new Bacardi commercial and wanted to use Jack's song "Born to Wander" in the commercial. Agreeing to this, a few days later he signed a contract not knowing how big and expensive this commercial was going to be. The company was planning to spend millions on an enormous new advertising campaign to appeal to a younger audience and now "Born to Wander" was about to be broadcast hundreds and hundreds of times on late night TV, ESPN, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, Spike, UFC, Comedy Central, etc. etc. 

    In less than a month after the Bacardi commercial began to air, there were over 10,000 views of "Born to Wander" on YouTube and it was being viewed by millions of people on all the major TV outlets. On top of all of this, Third Man Records in Tennessee reissued this 45 RPM record on their own banner and pressed hundreds of copies! 

    As Jack Wood himself said, "Born to Wander" is a record that just refused to die and it waited nearly 50 years for the world to discover it... 

(Hear "Born To Wander")