Don Barnett & The Nu-Jays

Home base for the Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays was a place called the Lake N’ Park Inn in south suburban Palos Hills in an era where a house band at country bars would stay for months on end. Bandleader Don Barnett had a reputation as a hotshot guitarist…After recording several singles, he self-released a series of LPs with his group the Nu-Jays. These included a mix of country and surfy/garage-y rock, and several showcase instrumentals.

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays also released a couple of singles on the Chaparral label in 1968 plus one single on the Kansas-based Evergreen label (although some Evergreen releases have an address in Lombard, Illinois and since produced by Brian Fisher we can assume this came out of sessions from Laddies studio in Lombard). He also recorded for the Brave/Extremely Brave labels and Barnett released an album They Call the Wind Maria (Ovation OV-1725) from which they pulled the single “They Call the Wind Maria” b/w “Little Girl” (Ovation OV-1102) in 1976.

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – Shower of Stars b/w Rock of Ages

Don Barnett – The Magic Guitar of Don Barnett

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – (Ghost) Riders in the Sky b/w Little Girl

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – Canadian Sunset b/w Canadian Sunset

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – Guitar Country

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – Just Another Good Time

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – Margie’s at the Lake n’ Park Inn b/w Live at the Lake n’ Park Inn

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – Apache b/w Apache

Don Barnett and the Nu-Jays – Live at the Lake ‘N Park Inn, Volume II

Don Barnett Article

Les Wiederkehr Article