Standing ovations for Nelson and Co.

Joe Delaney

Friday, June 25, 1999 | 10:05 a.m.

This old critic had the best time the other night, spending two hours in the Orleans showroom listening to Willie Nelson and his musical family. Nelson and Co. were in top form individually and as a group throughout.

"Whiskey River" and "Stay All Night, Stay a Little Longer" are the standard Nelson openers. The full house greeted the group with a standing ovation as they came onstage, so the opener played like a closer. "A Good-Hearted Woman in Love with a Good-Timing Man" followed, leading into a medley of songs written by Nelson that became hits for others.

This included "Funny How Time Slips Away," for Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely; Patsy Cline's "Crazy," "Night Life" for Ray Price, and several others. Sister Bobbie was featured on piano, scoring heavily with "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," the Pinetop Smith classic.

At this point, Nelson introduced Bobbie; Paul English, drums; B. Spears, bass guitar; Billy English, percussion; Mickey Rapheal, harmonica; and Jody Payne, acoustic guitar. Payne was featured on vocals and guitar on Merle Haggard's "Working Man Blues." It was back to Nelson for another classic, "Help Me Make It Through the Night," followed by a rip-roaring "Fast Train."

Next came the pop standards, "Blue Skies," "Georgia on My Mind," "All of Me," and a show-stopping "Stardust," for its instrumental content as well as Nelson's vocal. "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" was coupled with "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," and the very warm "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" came next.

The audience was standing again for "On the Road Again," followed by "You Are Always on My Mind" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." This was followed by three instrumentals from Willie's latest CD, entitled "Night and Day." I was so impressed I bought the CD on the way out.

"Seven Spanish Angels," "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" (with a sly vocal nod to Julio Iglesias), "Lukenbach, Texas," a reprise of "Whiskey River," "Still Is Still Moving," Kokomo Arnold's classic, "Milk Cow Blues," another show-stopper, and "Pancho and Lefty," led to bows, but the audience would not let them leave.

"My Bucket's Got a Hole in It," Hank Williams' "Jambalaya," "You See Me Better Than I Can," "Sweet Georgia Brown," played as an instrumental, "Good Old Mountain Dew," "I'll Get Over You," and "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" had the assemblage asking for more at the two-hour mark. After the opener, the show may vary a little from night to night.

Reserve tickets early. Willie Nelson and Family are worth seeing more than once each visit to the Orleans. They're there through Sunday.