An acetate recording of "My Happiness" cut by a very young and very green Elvis in 1953 is being put up for sale by one of the King's high-school chums, and it is expected to be a big-ticket item. Exactly how big is yet to be determined.

"We can all throw a number in the air, but this is a unique item of great significance in the history of popular music," says Maurice Colgan, an Elvis aficionado from Ireland who is assisting in the sale. "At this point, it's my guess the acetate will fetch an astronomical sum."

Colgan is working with Ed Leek, who, according to Colgan, "... attended Hume High School in Memphis, and was in the same classroom as Elvis for three years. They became good friends and because Ed had a car when Elvis didn't, he and other mutual friends would tour the neighborhood as teenagers did back then, hanging out at hamburger joints, playing the jukeboxes and generally living it up, although money at that time was in short supply."

As the story goes, it was Leek who pushed and cajoled Elvis into making a record "... and actually lent Elvis the four dollars it would cost," says Colgan.

Though unsure of himself in the studio, Elvis did it, recording "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," with only a lonely old acoustic guitar as accompaniment. Evidently, according to Colgan, Marion Keisker (pictured with Leek at top with the acetate), Sam Phillips' secretary, actually did the recording. Her story is captured on the video "Sun Days With Elvis," directed and produced by the U.K.'s Bernard Roughton.

The song "My Happiness" was released commercially in 1990.

But now, Leek, who is 74, is seeking to sell the acetate. Obviously, the most appropriate place for it is Graceland. But whether that'll come to fruition is anybody's guess. If it goes to a museum or music venue and replicas could be made to allow everybody to enjoy the recording in digital form, that would please Leek, according to Colgan.

For the full story on this historic piece, including additional photos, read the Jan. 2 edition of Goldmine.