80th birthday of Elvis Presley – his first record sells for $300,000

#ElvisPresley #PriscillaPresley #Graceland At an auction held at Elvis Presley's former home Graceland on what would have been his 80th birthday, his first ever record was sold at auction for $300,000 – it was purchased by an unnamed buyer who had placed the winning bid online for the 78 rpm recording of My Happiness.
The history of the record is unique. It was a ballad that Presley had recorded in 1953 when he was 18-years-old. He wanted to find out what his voice sounded like on record and had, reportedly, paid $4 for the session to record My Happiness and That's When Your Heartaches Begin.
He is believed to have made the recording as a present for his mother. But the family did not have a record player, so he took it to his friend Ed Leek's house to listen to the results of the session and left it there. Ed Leek had kept the record in a safe for 60 years and after he and his wife died their niece Lorisa Hilburn inherited it.
She hailed from Florida and was surprised but "very happy" with the record amount that the record sold for. It seems there were other items in the auction like Presley's first driving licence, scarves worn by him at concerts and gold necklaces with the initials TCB - short for the slogan Taking Care of Business.
Before start of the auction Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley hosted a cake-cutting ceremony to mark what would have been Presley's 80th birthday. Fans around the world have also participated in events to commemorate his birthday – like in Australia where there was a five day festival in Sydney.