Elvis Presley's high school buddy said Monday he has the King's first recording, a highly sought two-song disc Presley made for his mother in 1953. Edwin S. Leek Jr., a retired airline pilot, said in a telephone interview that Elvis left the record at Leek's grandmother's house in Memphis 25 years ago. ``I saw him a few years later in Chicago, when he was first starting to make it, and I said, `I still have that first record of yours. It's going to be worth a lot of money some day.''' Presley's reply, according to Leek: ``Just hold onto it.'' ``I've been telling my wife, `What are we gonna do with it? All we've ever done it lock it away,''' Leek said. ``Now I'd like to find out what it's worth.'' Todd Morgan of Graceland, the Presley home and museum in Memphis, said the museum had long ``kept an eye open'' for the record, which he described as ``probably the single most valuable record in record collecting. It's the first record of the man who pioneered rock 'n roll.'' Presley's first recording led directly to his discovery, and one Elvis expert describes it as ``extremely valuable.'' The disc's existence was reported in this week's edition of Goldmine magazine, a journal for record collectors. ``It sounds like early Presley, slow, romantic _ it's not rock 'n' roll,'' according to Kit Kiefer, Goldmine managing editor, who said he had listened to tapes provided by Leek. ``The sound isn't CD quality, but it's surprisingly good.'' Asked if the magazine suspected a hoax, he said, ``I've heard a lot of Elvis imitators, and none of them go for the immature Elvis sound. Also, everything (Leek) said checks out.'' In 1953, Presley, an 18-year-old truck driver, wanted to make a record as a present for his mother. He went to the Memphis Recording Service, paid $4 and _ accompanying himself on acoustic guitar _ sang two ballads: ``My Happiness'' and ``That's When Your Heartaches Begin.'' The studio was owned by Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, which shared the premises. One of the employees liked Presley's disc and called him to Phillips' attention. The first disc was long known to have been made, but no one has been able to determine what happened to it, Morgan said. Leek said that for years he kept the Presley disc with his wife's records, and later placed it in a bank safety deposit box after they moved to Key Largo, Fla. Leek said he will auction off the record if he can get a reasonable price. He also hopes to sell what he said was an autographed copy of Presley's first Sun release, ``That's All Right (Mama).'' Leek said he met Elvis in 1945 when they shared a class in high school. He said Presley frequently visited Leek's grandmother, who had a piano young Presley liked to play. Leek's grandmother expressed an interest in the record he'd made, and Presley brought it over and played it for her, Leek said. Presley forgot to take it with him when he left, Leek said.
