Gimme Three Steps
| "Gimme Three Steps" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Lynyrd Skynyrd | ||||
| from the album (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) | ||||
| B-side | "Mr. Banker" | |||
| Released | November 1973 | |||
| Recorded | March 29, 1973 | |||
| Studio | Studio One, Doraville, Georgia, U.S. | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:17 (single), 4:26 (album) | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins | |||
| Producer(s) | Al Kooper | |||
| Lynyrd Skynyrd singles chronology | ||||
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"Gimme Three Steps" is a song by southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd released on its 1973 debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd). It was written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.
History
The song is based on a real-life experience Ronnie Van Zant had at a biker bar in Jacksonville known as The Pastime, having a gun pulled on him for dancing with another man's woman, and thus inspiring him to write the lyrics on his way home.[1] It's memorable for its opening riff and engaging narrative of how the singer was dancing with a girl named Linda Lou at a bar called The Jug when a man, probably the girl's boyfriend or husband, enters with a loaded .44 and catches them, angrily believing her to be cheating. The song's title refers to the chorus, where the interloper begs for a head start out of the bar: "Won't you give me three steps / Give me three steps, mister / Give me three steps towards the door? / Give me three steps / Give me three steps, mister / And you'll never see me no more."[2]
Personnel
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
- Gary Rossington - lead guitar
- Allen Collins - guitar
- Ed King - bass guitar
- Bob Burns - drums
- Billy Powell - keyboards
with
- Bobbye Hall – percussion