Gimme Three Steps

"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. 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!",(Ronnie actually said "Stick Her" many times in concert) 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 (and on One More From The Road), 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.

Personnel

Lynyrd Skynyrd

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/

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Gary Rossington Rickey Medlocke Johnny Van Zant Michael Cartellone Mark Matejka Peter Keys Johnny Colt Ronnie Van Zant Allen Collins Bob Burns Larry Junstrom Greg T. Walker Leon Wilkeson Billy Powell Ed King Artimus Pyle Steve Gaines Randall Hall Kurt Custer Mike Estes Owen Hale Hughie Thomasson Jeff McAllister Kenny Aronoff Ean Evans Robert Kearns

Studio albums	(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) Second Helping Nuthin' Fancy Gimme Back My Bullets Street Survivors Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 The Last Rebel Endangered Species Twenty Edge of Forever Christmas Time Again Vicious Cycle God & Guns Last of a Dyin' Breed

Live albums	One More from the Road Southern by the Grace of God Southern Knights Lyve from Steel Town Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour Authorized Bootleg Lynyrd Skynyrd Live / Cardiff Capitol Theater - Cardiff, Wales Nov. 04 1975 Live from Freedom Hall

Compilations	Skynyrd's First and... Last Gold & Platinum Best of the Rest Legend Skynyrd's Innyrds Lynyrd Skynyrd (Box Set) A Retrospective What's Your Name Old Time Greats Extended Versions: The Encore Collection The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album 20th Century Masters: The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd Solo Flytes All Time Greatest Hits Collectybles Then and Now Lynyrd Skynyrd: The Collection Thyrty Greatest Hits Then and Now Volume Two Greatest Hits Icon

Video	Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour Freebird... The Movie Lyve From Steel Town Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live from Austin, TX Live from Freedom Hall

Songs	"Tuesday's Gone" "Gimme Three Steps" "Simple Man" "Things Goin' On" "Free Bird" "Mr. Banker" "Don't Ask Me No Questions" "Sweet Home Alabama' "Saturday Night Special" "Double Trouble" "All I Can Do Is Write About It" "What's Your Name" "That Smell" "You Got That Right" "Red White & Blue"

Tours	Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd Tour Second Helping Tour Nuthin' Fancy Tour Gimme Back My Bullets Tour One More From The Road Tour Street Survivors Tour Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 Tour The Last Rebel Tour Lynyrd Skynyrd Twenty Tour Edge of Forever Tour Vicious Cycle Tour Rebels and Bandoleros Tour

Spin-off bands	Rossington Collins Band The Rossington Band Allen Collins Band Artimus Pyle Band Van Zant

Related articles	Discography Band Members Skynyrd Frynds 1977 Convair CV-240 crash Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park Leonard Skinner "All Summer Long"

Lynyrd Skynyrd singles

Singles

(1968) "Michelle / Need All My Friends"
(1971) "I've Been Your Fool / Gotta Go"
(1973) "Gimme Three Steps / Mr. Banker"
(1974) "Don't Ask Me No Questions / Take Your Time"
"Sweet Home Alabama / Take Your Time (demo)"
"Free Bird / Down South Jukin"
(1975) "Saturday Night Special / Made in the Shade"
(1976) "Double Trouble / Roll Gypsy Roll"
"Gimme Back My Bullets / All I Can Do Is Write About It"
"Gimme Three Steps (Live) / Travelin' Man (Live)"
(1977) "What's Your Name / I Know A Little"
(1978) "You Got That Right / Ain't No Good Life"
"Down South Jukin / Wino"

(1987) "Truck Drivin' Man"
(1988) "Swamp Music"
(1991) "Smokestack Lightning"
(1993) "Keeping The Faith"
"Good Lovin's Hard To Find"
"Born To Run"
(1997) "Travelin' Man"
"Bring It On"
(1999) "Preacher Man"
(2003) "Red White & Blue (Love it or Leave)"
(2009) "Still Unbroken"
"Simple Life"
(2010) "Skynyrd Nation"
"That Ain't My America"

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