Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Gimme Three Steps” Live

Hey There, Fellow!

“Gimme Three Steps” was written by Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins. It was released on November 1973 for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album. It was their first major hit (although it didn’t chart) and is notable for the opening riff. This was based on Ronnie’s real life experience in Jacksonville after which he eventually penned the lyrics while on his way home.

The pace of the chorus is fast, to signify Van Zant running away from the guy he thought was going to shoot him.

The events took place at The Little Brown Jug which was included in the lyrics “I was cutting the rug/ Down at place called The Jug”. Ronnie was around 18 years old at the time and he was trying to use a fake ID to get inside the bar. This was one of the few tracks they released as a single.

This made the cut for Skynyrd’s first album. Their producer, Al Kooper, had them play all their original songs, and out of the 14 they had, picked 9 to record for the album.

Classic!