Elvis' My Happiness, his first record, sells for world record $300,000

Elvis Presley's first record, My Happiness, has sold at an auction held at Graceland to celebrate what would have been his 80th birthday.

Elvis My Happiness
Elvis previously told enquiring fans that the acetate had long since worn out



The aectate, recorded by the 18-year-old Presley at Sun Records in Memphis as a gift for his mother, sold for $300,000 on January 8 at the much-anticipated auction, with the winning bidder remaining anonymous.

It is a world record for a disc.

Elvis paid $4 for the session in 1953, but soon realised his family didn't own a record player and took the record to his friend Ed Leek's house. He left the record there, and it was later inherited by Leek's niece, who offered it for sale at Graceland.

That's When Your Heartaches Begin is on the B-side.

My Happiness is a pop standard, first written with different lyrics in 1933. It has been covered by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.

Also starring in the auction was a signed copy of Elvis' That's All Right, his first release for Sun Records, which was made out to Ed Leek with the inscription "To a good pal, Elvis Presley" on the label. It sold for $32,500 against a $15,000 high estimate.

Also selling for $32,500 was a treble-clef shaped ring Elvis gifted to Sammy Davis Jr. Elvis' first driving licence, which he picked up in Tennessee in 1952, sold for $11,875 - an identical sum to the rare 16mm footage of Elvis performing live in Chicago in 1957.

The sale comes ahead of Julien's Auctions offering two of Elvis' jets next month. This has caused controversy among fans and prompted former wife Priscilla Presley to speak out in defence of the Graceland estate.

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