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 | Studio One, Doraville, Georgia, March 29, 1973 | |||
| Genre | Southern rock, hard rock | |||
| Length |
3:17 (Single version) 4:26 (Album version) | |||
| Label | MCA Records | |||
| Writer(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. The song can often be heard on many classic rock radio stations today.[citation needed] It was written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.
The album became the band's first hit, driven by the success of the single "Free Bird", but "Gimme Three Steps" never charted.[1]
Content
The song is memorable for its opening riff and story of how the speaker 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 gun (described as a .44) and catches them, angrily believing her to be cheating. The song's title refers to the chorus, "Won't you give me three steps/Gimme three steps mister/Gimme three steps towards the door?/Gimme three steps/Gimme three steps mister/And you'll never see me no more."[2] essentially asking for three steps head start to flee. The song is also based on a real-life experience Ronnie Van Zant had at a biker bar in Jacksonville known as The Pastime, including having a gun pulled on him, and thus inspiring him to write the lyrics on his way home.[3] In some later live versions after the plane crash and the band reformed with Ronnie's brother, Johnny, Johnny would often change the line "Wait a minute, mister, I didn't even kiss her!" to "Wait a minute, mister, I didn't STICK her!",[4] emphasizing on the word "stick" and proclaiming the narrator's innocence. Ronnie would also sometimes comment in concert, most famously at the Knebworth Festival in 1976, that he (the narrator) didn't want to "fight him over that cunt anyway"; Johnny would also later on make the same statement in some live versions or say to the audience that they knew why the narrator would not fight the man.
On September 22, 2012, The Pastime Bar, located at the intersection of Normandy Boulevard and Lenox Avenues (5301 Lenox Avenue, Jacksonville, Florida), walking distance from the Van Zant family home at that time, will be re-dedicated and renamed The Jug.
On September 25, 2012, it was announced that The Jug may close forever due to the lack of renovation funds and church influence from The Potters House church located on Normandy Boulevard. It is being discussed to see if The Jug can be "grandfathered" into doing business as it has been at its current location for some 40 years and the church currently occupies an old retail outlet. A petition has been started on Facebook at facebook.com/savethejug and outreach started to local entertainment who has worked with Lynyrd Skynyrd over the years for their assistance in keeping The Jug open.
On March 23, 2013, Joe Roh,owner of The Jug and Barbara Mehler, The Jug Manager, along with public relations operator Debra Lambert and Jorge and Catherine Schmidt of The Natural Instincts Band, announced that The Jug will in fact re-open at that same location on May 4, 2013. Changes to the site include the introduction of new Lynyrd Skynyrd memorabilia and Harley Davidson theme.
Personnel
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
- Gary Rossington - lead guitar
- Allen Collins - guitar
- Ed King - bass guitar
- Billy Powell - keyboards
- Bob Burns - drums
with
- Bobbye Hall – percussion
Notes
- ↑ Rock Movers & Shakers by Dafydd Rees & Luke Crampton, 1991 Billboard Books.
- ↑ http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com/lyrics/70-77/pronounc/sonc.html
- ↑ http://wiki.scorehero.com/LoadingScreens/
- ↑ http://www.thefullwiki.org/Gimme_Three_Steps
External links
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