Gimme Three Steps
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| "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 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:17 (single version), 4:26 (album version) | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins | |||
| Producer(s) | Al Kooper | |||
| Lynyrd Skynyrd singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Live video | ||||
| "Gimme Three Steps" on YouTube | ||||
"Gimme Three Steps" is a song by American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released from the band's debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) (1973). It was written by bandmates Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.
The single release contains the song "Mr. Banker" as a B-side.
Background[edit]
Band member Gary Rossington based the lyrics on a real-life experience Ronnie Van Zant had at a bar in Jacksonville, Florida, having a gun pulled on him for dancing with another man's woman.[1][better source needed] It narrates how the singer was dancing with a girl named Linda Lou at a bar called The Jug when a man, either the girl's boyfriend or husband, enters with a loaded gun 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]
Of the live single released in 1977, Cash Box said it is "a traditional rock and roller, featuring some tight harmony vocals and the obligatory high-distortion guitar solo."[3] Record World said that "the triple pronged guitar attack and Ronnie Van Zandt's vocal have never sounded better."[4]
Personnel[edit]
Lynyrd Skynyrd[edit]
- Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
- Gary Rossington - lead guitar
- Allen Collins - guitar
- Ed King - bass
- Bob Burns - drums
- Billy Powell - keyboards
Notes[edit]
- ^ "ScoreHero Wiki: Loading Screens". Wiki.scorehero.com. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ^ "Gimme Three Steps". Lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. February 26, 1977. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. February 26, 1977. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-16.