Willie Nelson Album: “Willie & Family Live [Remaster]”

What I have found in many cases on Amazon is that people giving reviews are usually people who love the group/person and just fawn and gush about the recording, which is not at all helpful. I am going to rave about this because it is simply one of the best double CDs of all time. I like a huge array of music, if it is good, I like it, so I am not beholden to one style or artist. Willie Nelson is truly one of the gems of American music, as a songwriter and a performer, and this CD captures that very well. Incredible musicians back him up, and Willie can play and pick the guitar as good as anyone. He also has been willing throughout his career to do different styles, to explore new music types and to smash the frame people want him to be in. I don't like everything he has done, but of the thousands of CDs I have, this is easily in the Top 10, plus as a kicker, he signed it in 1999. Buy it.

This is simply the best live performance album since Bob Seger's "Live Bullet". A must have.

Willie And Family Live (1978) was recorded at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe, Nevada and features Willie Nelson at the peak of his career. He won the Country Music Association's Entertainer Of The Year Award the next year, and everybody seemed to be jumping on the Willie Nelson bandwagon.

The album opens (as most Willie Nelson concerts do) with a rocking version of Whiskey River. After an uptempo Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer), he jumps right into his famous Funny How Time Slips Away/Crazy/Night Life medley and brings down the house.

Most of Willie's pre-1978 biggies are here. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, Good Hearted Woman, Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys, If You've Got The Money (I've Got The Time), If You Could Touch Her At All, Georgia On My Mind, a Red Headed Stranger medley, and more.

Willie does gospel (Amazing Grace, Uncloudy Day, Will The Circle Be Unbroken) with help from Emmylou Harris and Johnny Paycheck. Then Willie and Johnny have some fun with Paycheck's signature Take This Job And Shove It.

These renditions are all energetic and sometimes even seem a little rushed, but the performances are tight and professional. Willie and his "Family" stretch out and jam on a few of these songs, too.

It's a treat to hear Willie go back in time and perform songs that he wrote when he a struggling Nashville songwriter in the early 1960s. Mr. Record Man, Hello Walls, I Gotta Get Drunk, and I'm A Memory are some of these.

I like this version of Bloody Mary Morning, too ("It's a Bloody Mary morning, baby left me with no warning, sometime in the night"). As usual, Willie reprises Whiskey River, and then comes back for an encore performance.

This is an upbeat, positive and enthusiastic concert, and the energy is non-stop. The performance isn't letter perfect, but that's not what this music is all about, anyway. If you're not a fan of Willie Nelson, this 2-CD set might seem to go on forever. If you are a fan, especially a long-time fan, this is a ticket back to the good ol' days when the rest of the world seemed to understand what we already knew about Willie Nelson.

This is Willie in his true form...stretching out the jams, belting out the tunes, and wow, what a voice! If you are going to buy one Willie Nelson cd, get this!

This is a very fast moving album. It's the next best thing to going to one of his concerts.Highly recommended.