For a brief moment during his keynote address on September 1st, Steve Jobs offered a glimpse at his favorite albums through his now-disabled Ping profile.
UPDATE: As a tribute to the late Steve Jobs, we’re re-publishing this piece from last year in which we noticed a peek into Jobs’ favorite records as captured in the short-lived iTunes function Ping in a screen grab from his presentation. Jobs’ impact on the world was as much as an artist as an engineer—and he was pure rock and roll. We hope you’ll join us in paying tribute to one of America’s greatest innovators. He’ll be missed.
Sure, the death of the album is hurting the creation of new bands and music, but is the death of the album hurting the creation of CEOs? Who’d have thunk it? Just look at Zuckerburg, who, like most 26 year olds, probably grew up downloading singles illegally, and compare him to the aura of mystery and brilliance that surrounds Steve Jobs, an album-oriented CEO.
How does Steve Jobs, the most popular CEO in the world and head of Wall Street‘s most valuable technology company, describe himself? Like so:
“I grew up in the apricot orchards that later became known as Silicon Valley, and was lucky enough to have my young spirit infused with the social and artistic revolution of the day called rock and roll. It has never left me.”
Ah, the carefree days spent frolicking through the old apricot orchards listening to the revolutionary sounds of Peter, Paul and Mary. Where does the time go?
Judging from his taste in music, and barring any statements made by former Apple employees, it’s safe to say that Jobs favors the mellow to the raucous. Steve Jobs likes to chill. Steve Jobs is a bro. His taste in music is pretty fantastic, and it says a lot of about him.
Here are the ten records (from top left to bottom right) Jobs listed in his now-defunct Ping profile:
Bob Dylan | “Highway 61 Revisited”
“Like a Rolling Stone,” “Desolation Row” — Jesus, those two songs right there are worth the entire output of the ’60s. Have you ever read or watched an interview with Dylan? A lot of the time they’re as awkward as interviews with, well, Steve Jobs. Jobs and Dylan are both capable of being voluble, but there are plenty of instances of few-word answers followed by steely silence. Jobs’ cool and occasional pretenses are the pillars of his success, and are totally Bob Dylan.
Cat Stevens | “Tea for the Tillerman”
Unlike Jobs, Stevens (now Yusuf Islam, a devout Muslim) was a Luddite. In fact, “Tea for the Tillerman,” a mystical, chamber-pop record, is all about one man’s quest to find spirituality in the modern world, meaning, by today’s standards, how do I escape my iPhone and my laptop? Here’s the thing about Mac products: they’re beautiful on the outside because they are beautiful on the inside. Jobs indoctrination into mystical thinking must have, in part, been born out of these rock records. He just had the insight to combine it with technology, while the guys at IBM were still listening to the Rat Pack.
The Grateful Dead | “American Beauty”
Jobs strikes me as a bad-ass mystical-thinking ninja, say nothing of an incredible capitalist. This move-to-the-hills hippie stuff doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on him. My God, I hate the Grateful Dead.
Glenn Gould | Bach: The Goldberg Variations
I had no idea what this record was, but I’ll you who did: the biggest nerd in my office.
Jackson Browne | “Late for the Sky”
There is something overwhelmingly girlie about the music of Jackson Browne. It’s like a mix between the Goo Goo Dolls and “Glee.” I’ve always really liked it, though I have to admit I’ve only been a greatest hits/ solo acoustic fan. I am going to purchase “Late for the Sky.” Such is the power of Steve Jobs’ influence.
John Lennon | “Imagine”
At this point in his career, you could view John Lennon in two ways. One, he was a spiritual leader, a guru, a revolutionary and the singularly most talented songwriter to ever live. Two, he was drug-addled shut-in who sat around his apartment daydreaming, watching cartoons and writing the occasional song if he just so happened to leave his guitar next to his pile of hash. There is a term for this: the reality-distortion field. Jobs may have perfected it, but Lennon certainly innovated it, as was his wont.
Miles Davis | “Kind of Blue”
If you didn’t listen to this record drinking huge cups of coffee while digesting pages upon pages of liberal propaganda, then you didn’t really go to college. You weren’t really there, man. Of course, unlike the rest of us schmucks, Steve Jobs dropped out of college after one semester. Now he’s a billionaire. Life is cruel.
Peter, Paul and Mary | “Around the Campfire”
Imagine Jobs and Woz chewing the fat, discussing operating systems, microchips, marketing strategies, why they should value a computer at $666.66 (three sixes is the number of the devil, so one must assume five sixes is the number of the super-devil), and so on. Now imagine them sitting around a fire, listening to the pop folk of Peter, Paul and Mary, roasting s’mores and probably their lungs with pot. The event I just described probably happened.
The Rolling Stones | “Some Girls”
People have sex to this record.
The Who | “Who’s Next”
The click wheel, a new approach the way users interact with mobile devices, could have been inspired by Pete Townshend’s windmill, a new approach to playing the guitar. Think that’s a stretch? As Jobs always says, “good artists borrow, great artists steal.”
Want to change the world? Well, a great place to start your mission is by purchasing these records. On iTunes, of course.
September 04, 2010 at 9:26 am, Large Pot said:
This is cool! And so interested! Are u have more posts like this? Plese tell me, thanks
September 04, 2010 at 10:05 am, Sven said:
Actually, your comments say much more about you and what a dick you are than Jobs album collection say about him. But that's just me and my opinion of you. Nothing to take seriously….
September 04, 2010 at 3:20 pm, Pauls said:
First off, after the sophomoric attempt at journalism by you–that is, the error-filled, cut & paste, mosque-debacle of an article that somehow passed the Editor's bullshit detector–it's amazing to find that, not only do you still have a job, but said job's still at the same magazine. Which leads one to believe one, two, or all of the following:
1. The Editor is rimming or reaming you (et vice versa)
2. The Editor is a blood relation
3. The Editor (and magazine's investors) feel rather sorry for you
Having said that much, when the magazine does go under, it'll be in no small part due to the inaccuracies and pregnant prose that populate your posts.
On that note, as follows:
“There is something overwhelmingly girlie about the music of Jackson Browne….”
You mean GIRLIE as in, he's handsome, a good melodist and storyteller, and A LOT OF GIRLS LIKE HIM & HIS MUSIC?
“There is a term for this: the reality-distortion field.”
Learn to give credit where its due–in this case, credit goes to Bud Tribble.
“…could have been inspired by Pete Townshend’s windmill, a new approach to playing the guitar.”
Again, learn to give (proper) credit where its due: Townshend copped the move from Keith Richard(s).
“Think that’s a stretch? As Jobs always says, “good artists borrow, great artists steal.””
Yes, in fact. Jobs stole that quote from Igor Stravinsky (perhaps you've heard of him, even though you'd never heard of Glenn Gould.)
September 05, 2010 at 3:18 pm, RobDK said:
Like a ridiculously large proportion of the Bay Area's population, Jobs has of course been to several Grateful Dead concerts, and loves their music. No surprise he has this classic 1970s album on his list!
September 06, 2010 at 11:53 pm, Dean Edgecombe said:
Perhaps your magazine should employ a reviewer who actually has some idea about the music or has actually listened to these albums. I certainly didn't get that impression from the text above.
December 31, 2010 at 7:19 am, career ideas said:
i am really impressed, what a person Steve Jobs
September 17, 2010 at 11:18 am, What Is the Point of RadioShack? | Death and Taxes said:
[...] same listless staff in their unenthusiastic polos. When they first started planning Apple stores, Steve Jobs must’ve said, “Here is a picture of RadioShack. We need to do the exact [...]
October 06, 2011 at 3:05 am, JUBE said:
did you cut and paste CD covers with your apple as a joke? the article is about steve jobber and his ALBUM collection not CD collection. fanboy!
October 06, 2011 at 6:53 am, Genre Bender said:
This was vaguely interesting until you slammed the Grateful Dead. My god, it boggles the mind how anyone can hate one of the most prolific American bands of all time, who could play music from pretty much every American genre there is – blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, you name it. Robert Hunter is one of the few poets and lyricists to be on a par with Dylan, but you hate hippies so much you won’t even allow yourself to admit it. Jerry Garcia did more even before he got the heroin habit that eventually played a major role in his deterioration and death, than you have or will in the rest of your life. And the others are still going strong and playing the music that made them visionaries as much as Jobs. Die in a fire.
October 06, 2011 at 6:54 am, GardenGirl said:
This was vaguely interesting until you slammed the Grateful Dead. My
god, it boggles the mind how anyone can hate one of the most prolific
American bands of all time, who could play music from pretty much every
American genre there is – blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, you
name it. Robert Hunter is one of the few poets and lyricists to be on a
par with Dylan, but you hate hippies so much you won’t even allow
yourself to admit it. Jerry Garcia did more even before he got the
heroin habit that eventually played a major role in his deterioration
and death, than you have or will in the rest of your life. And the
others are still going strong and playing the music that made them
visionaries as much as Jobs. Die in a fire.
October 06, 2011 at 7:02 am, GardenGirl said:
My
god, it boggles the mind how people like you who talk about the likes of Bob Dylan with breathy admiration can talk smack about the Grateful Dead – one of the most prolific
American bands of all time, who could play music from pretty much every
American-flavor genre there is – blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock, you
name it. Robert Hunter is one of the few poets and lyricists in contemporary US history on a
par with Dylan, but you hate hippies so much you won’t even allow
yourself to admit it. Jerry Garcia did more creatively, even before he got the
heroin habit that eventually played a major role in his deterioration
and death, than you have – or will – in the rest of your life. And the
others? They are still going strong and playing the music that made them
visionaries every bit as much as Steve Jobs. (Dylan, by the way, who you wax so poetic about, LOVED the Dead and collaborated with them at many points.)
October 06, 2011 at 7:03 am, GardenGirl said:
My
god, it boggles the mind how anyone can hate one of the most prolific
American bands of all time, who could play music from pretty much every
American genre there is – blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, you
name it. Robert Hunter is one of the few poets and lyricists to be on a
par with Dylan, but you hate hippies so much you won’t even allow
yourself to admit it. Jerry Garcia did more even before he got the
heroin habit that eventually played a major role in his deterioration
and death, than you have or will in the rest of your life. And the
others are still going strong and playing the music that made them
visionaries as much as Jobs. (Dylan, by the way, was a huge fan and collaborator with the Dead. Shows you what the hell you know.)
October 06, 2011 at 12:52 pm, Robert Strobl said:
Awesome – I’ve put these together as a playlist on Spot¡fy as a little tribute. <3
http://open.spotify.com/user/dascope/playlist/6L81YKX8mHiflzl5KHvyXf
October 06, 2011 at 4:13 pm, LePuu said:
The Glenn Gould record is the one Lecter plays in “Hannibal”.
October 06, 2011 at 4:13 pm, LePuu said:
The Glenn Gould record is the one Lecter plays in “Hannibal”.
October 07, 2011 at 6:34 pm, Weavingtheweb said:
You, sir, are a snarky asswipe who knows nothing significant about signature modern music that defined an era. Your pathetic attempts at being amusing are just that, pathetic. It’s too bad this musical tribute/review was written by such an ignorant douche canoe. You must be a Republican.
October 08, 2011 at 2:46 am, Jolie Goodman said:
People have sex to American Beauty, too!
October 08, 2011 at 2:46 am, Jolie Goodman said:
People have sex to American Beauty, too!
October 08, 2011 at 5:19 am, dada said:
ストーンズは「女たち」を推すのか。つーか、ジョブズさんも普通のアメリカ人で、アメリカ人には普通に豊かな文化背景がデフォルトとしてあるんだなって思った。普通じゃないジョブズさんの普通のアメリカ。
October 11, 2011 at 12:45 am, not important said:
*facepalm* I’m sorry Steve Jobs has to share a name with you, writer Stephen Blackwell. You even spelt it wrong. Writing may not be your thing. You might wanna quit now before you completely ruin your reputation.
October 11, 2011 at 12:45 am, not important said:
*facepalm* I’m sorry Steve Jobs has to share a name with you, writer Stephen Blackwell. You even spelt it wrong. Writing may not be your thing. You might wanna quit now before you completely ruin your reputation.
October 11, 2011 at 2:47 am, Anonymous said:
How could you possibly write an article about music, and then admit you don’t know Glenn Gould? Why not google him, listen to him, and then have an opinion regarding Jobs’ taste? Unless, of course, this article was secretly about you. And then we can better understand why you slam the Dead.
October 11, 2011 at 12:04 pm, mrmocha said:
“Enable disk use and STFU & GTFO” is what I call beautiful on the inside… and… “While Steve had the insight to slap privacy invading bloat
onto technology. The Fraunhofer Society was braking down DRM-free
Boredoms”
October 11, 2011 at 3:21 pm, flaco said:
Considering the weight of these albums and their place in history, they are commented on like someone who used Itunes preview to quickly get an assesment of their sound. The research and understanding is woeful. What irony.
October 11, 2011 at 5:51 pm, Laura Chandler said:
The Grateful Dead suck. Thank you so much for saying so. Also, you people suck at being hippies. Seriously! The aggro here. Smoke more pot or something. Damn!
PS: Steve Jobs was a corporatist pig.
December 17, 2011 at 8:12 pm, Jerry Lives said:
corporatist? what the fuck is that? Sorry lady, but YOU suck. The grateful dead have more heart than any band there ever was.
October 12, 2011 at 6:21 pm, doesn't matter said:
Lol at the people complaining about someone dissing the grateful dead. Writers have been slamming them since the rise of internet music journalism. If you don’t understand why they suck, then you have no hope. Stop reading music blogs and go waste your middling intellect on pot smoking and useless navel gazing. Keep respecting a so-called counterculture that never went anywhere that is now only followed by white teenage stoners from the suburbs.
October 16, 2011 at 9:11 am, Hi said:
most people are aware that the grateful dead suck. don’t bother responding to the few that don’t.
December 17, 2011 at 8:07 pm, Jerry Lives said:
What do you mean “aware”? Just because you don’t get it because you’re stuck inside the head which your mother and father’s degenerate versions of DNA combined to create in what was one of the most unfortunate accidents since the birth of the universe, does not mean the music sucks. If it were true that “most people” were able to pick out the good music from the bad, then it would be true that Lady Gaga is a genius. Then again, you might just think that…
October 16, 2011 at 9:11 am, Hi said:
most people are aware that the grateful dead suck. don’t bother responding to the few that don’t.
October 18, 2011 at 11:42 pm, GardenGirl said:
If by ‘never went anywhere’ you mean that they are one of the most successful touring bands of all time, whose remaining members still play sold-out shows all around the world, as well as influencing the likes of Steve Jobs and many others, then yeah, maybe you’re right, it never really went anywhere. Nothing to see here, move along.
October 13, 2011 at 4:39 pm, Anonymous said:
…..my co-worker’s aunt makes $85/hr on the internet. She has been unemployed for 9 months but last month her income was $8015 just working on the internet for a few hours. Go to this web site …. C a s h M a n y . c o m ….
October 13, 2011 at 4:40 pm, Anonymous said:
…http://alturl.com/d44ig
October 13, 2011 at 4:40 pm, Anonymous said:
…http://alturl.com/d44ig
October 14, 2011 at 9:07 pm, Cmozeeba said:
incredibly poorly written article.
October 16, 2011 at 9:28 am, Wow said:
Wow this article looks like a sophomore in college wrote it. I’m surprised this idiot doesn’t like the grateful dead. This guy needs to learn where to properly insert commas. Also, anyone who jokes that college students read “liberal propaganda” is a tool. And if you are subtly trying to dis Miles Davis by making that joke, then you fucking suck.
October 18, 2011 at 3:59 pm, 長谷川町蔵 said:
スティーブ・ジョブスの愛したアルバム10枚。米国のベビーブーマーの典型的な音楽的趣味。それ以上でもそれ
以下でもないけど、日本の同世代の経営者の1万倍くらいはセンスがいい。
October 19, 2011 at 4:37 am, PARKJIYOUNG said:
good view!
October 22, 2011 at 4:38 am, Manu said:
I was going to express my disgust for this article… I was going to say what a terrible writer you are… I was even going to say how frustrated and disappointed I was from this article, but all of that has already been said by everybody who posted a comment before me and probably will be said by those who comment after me. All I have left to say is: Man, next time you are going to write an article about anything, do a little bit of research first so that you don’t sound like a complete and absolute moron.
December 14, 2011 at 12:28 pm, Anonymous said:
WoW, thanks for your enlightened shallow perspective of music.
December 17, 2011 at 7:57 pm, Osag9588 said:
Wow, I was just gonna rip this douche for hatin’ on The Boys, but it seems you all beat me to the punch. “My God, I hate the Grateful Dead”??? Sorry, but your voice falls on deaf ears. If there’s a God, I promise you he wears a Stealie shirt under his robes.