The Tate-LaBianca Homicide Research Blog

Some Lynyrd Skynyrd Trivia for Y'all.
The Origin of the song "Gimme Three Steps"

"I was cuttin' a rug, down at a place called Jug,

with a girl named Linda-Lou".

The is the Real "Jug"

This tiny bar was actually named the "West Tavern"... known by locals as simply, "The WT".  It was later changed to "Pastines" (as seen here).

This closet-sized bar, is where Ronnie Van Zant almost got shot, by a jealous boyfriend.  This real-life incident inspired Skynyrd's hit song "Gimme 3 Steps".

So where did the name "Jug" come from, you ask? 
The "Little Brown Jug" was another tiny bar (later converted to a liquor store) in the same area.  The name "Jug" was used for the song, simply because it rhymed with "Rug". 
Interestingly enough... the girl's real name was Linda, but "Lou" was added (i.e., Linda Lou) for the same reason... it rhymed with "who".

The man actually pulled a .38 Special on Ronnie, which became a ".44" because it rhymed with "door".
  

This was the original "Little Brown Jug" in Jacksonville, Florida.

The building as you see it here, no longer exists.

It has been purchased and converted to office space.

Gary Rossington tells the real story:
 

We went in this W. T. West Tavern one day — me, Ronnie and Allen. Me, I never danced in my whole life. We always played so people could dance. I never been able to. But anyway, this girl came over and wanted Ronnie to dance.

So they went out and started twisting and doing the Monkey. This guy came in and said, “Hey, that’s my girl. You better get. What are you doing dancin’ with her?” And Ronnie went, “Hey, I’m just having fun.”

The only reason the girl was dancing with Ronnie was because she was fighting with her boyfriend. Then the guy pulled a gun and said he was gonna blow Ronnie’s brains, you know? And Ronnie said, “Just let me leave. I don’t know the girl. I don’t want to see her again.” And he turned around and said, “If you’re gonna shoot me, you’re gonna have to shoot me in the ass or the elbows.” And we started walking out, er, Allen and me saw Ronnie walking, so we started to walk. We got to the car, and we wrote the song in the car driving back to the house.

"Bring all my mules out here... and kick'em!"