Western game Red Dead Redemption was originally supposed to get in the saddle this April, but has been kicked off its horse and won't be riding into stores until May.
Developer Rockstar needs more time to polish the game, which *fingers crossed* means a better finished product. Still, that leaves us with some dead time this coming April. When you could be riding horses and shooting cowboys with our pistols, you'll probably playing other games, but still!
Here is the first part of a cowboy survival guide: music. Kotaku has selected a handful of tune that are bound to make you walk bowlegged, squint your eyes, smoke cheap cigars and drink strong whiskey — if you don't already!
Let's have a look, err, listen:
Ghost Riders In The Sky - Johnny Cash
The Man in Black, Johnny Cash, sings Stan Jones' iconic "cowboy legend" tune Ghost Riders in the Sky. Part outlaw, all poet, Cash was a true American original.
Rawhide - Frankie Laine
Composed by Dimitri Tiomkin, who also won Oscars for his Alamo and High Noon scores, Rawhide was sung by singer Frankie Laine. The show starred a young Clint Eastwood as well as John Ireland, who gave a fantastic speech in the Howard Hawks' John Wayne western Red River. Tiomkin also composed the theme for Red River.
The Magnificent Seven - Elmer Bernstein
When Hollywood decided it wanted to remake Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai into a Western, it enlisted composer Elmer Bernstein to craft a sweeping score. Kurosawa's Yojimbo would later be remade into the Spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars by Sergio Leone and then Walter Hill's 1996 film Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis.
Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys - Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
Along with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings formed country supergroup The Highwaymen. Nelson and Jennings collaborated on a series of duet albums during the 1970s.
The Ecstasy of Gold - Ennio Morricone
The Italian composer has created memorable scores for everything from war films, gangster movies and horror films. His most famous work are the scores he did for Sergio Leone's "Spaghetti Westerns". It's not hard to pick one Morricone song. It's impossible. Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dollars, A Fistful of Dynamite and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly are, among many, many others, defining works.
The Streets of Laredo - Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins's song might be the epic El Paso, but his version of The Streets of Laredo cowboy lament is touching, haunting and beautiful.
My Rifle, My Pony And Me - Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson
Director Howard Hawks did not initially want to hire Dean Martin for the role of an alcoholic sherif in Rio Bravo, believing that Martin could only play a "Hollywood cowboy". He changed his mind when Martin showed up grungy and unshaven. That's Rickey Nelson he's singing with.
How the West Was Won - Alfred Newman
The film is divided up into five parts and features some of a trio of big Hollywood directors contributing to the film and featured an all-star cast that included stars like John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda and Jimmy Steward as well as Thelma Ritter, Richard Widmark and Eli Wallach.
The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
Did you know that muppets drink and smoke? I bet they cuss, too.