we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. >> it stands in the way. >> it's just her house in the middle of the block. >> she won't sell out. >> the 84-year-old seen here turned down $1 million payout. >> he's caught in the middle. >> i promised her that i wouldn't let them take her away. >> that's a really big promise. >> what's "up" with that? >> people from all over the country and even around the world have stopped by this house. >> they put balloons on the house, and that's how it became the "up" house. >> it is amazing. i can't believe that she held out. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, and today, i'm in seattle, headed toward

the ballard neighborhood. it's an upscale area once known for sawmills and commercial fishing, and just down the road is one man's strange inheritance and a story with a hollywood ending. >> my name's barry martin. i inherited a tiny, hundred-year-old house from a little old lady. if there ever was a real-estate niche, this is one. >> hi, barry. i'm jamie.in frons little house. yep, this is it -- his strange inheritance. it's just 600 square feet, and it's now surrounded by a huge shopping mall -- a mall that the unlikely heir in this story helped build. >> who leaves this to somebody? >> well, edith left it to me. >> edith? >> yep. >> love to learn more. >> okay. come on. >> barry explains that when this house was built over a hundred years ago, ballard, washington,

was the shingle-mill capital of the world, with 20 mills producing 3 million shingles a day. >> there was fishing on elliot bay there, and the shingle-mill industry, all along shilshole avenue here. >> cass o'callaghan from the ballard historical society tells me more. did the neighborhood really change over the years? >> in about the late '30s, early '40s, the commercial district moved north and businesses moved out. nobody wanted to be here anymore. >> with the exception, that is, of edith macefield and her retired single mother, alice wilson. edith's early life is a bit mysterious. we know she was born in august 1921, and that her parents divorced shortly thereafter. during her 20s, edith disappears -- to england, she says, where she seems to have gotten married once or thrice. but, again, it's hard to tell fact from fiction. [ camera shutter clicks ]

by the 1950s, she's back in ballard, single, and working as a store manager for spic 'n span dry cleaners. edith buys this house for her mother and the two name it whitewood cottage. edith is able to pay off the $3,700 mortgage in just a few years. in her off hours, she babysits for next-door neighbor gayle holland. hi, gayle. you know why i'm here -- to hear about edith. >> i've got a lot to tell you. come on in. our street was very quiet and edith would play games with us. >> so she was older, but she loved to hang out with children? >> oh, yes. everybody liked edith. she would play her saxophone or her trumpet outside. we would sit and listen to her, and she'd let us blow on her instruments. >> what a character! they ask her about her past, and, oh, the stories she tells. >> i know she had a son who died of meningitis.

>> edith shares only a few sketchy details -- that the boy was born out of wedlock, that his father was jewish, that james macefield, a much older englishman, married her to help save the boy from the nazis. it's all very complicated. you see, edith was spying on hitler for britain at the time. is it all true? who knows? gayle just loves hanging out with her eccentric neighbor, until her family, like so many others, abandons the area. so, you left and edith stayed. >> yes. it was the early '60s when we moved away. >> in 1976, edith's mother, alice, passes away on the couch in the front room. not long after, edith retires and spends her days watching greta garbo videos and listening to big bands on vinyl. more and more, whitewood cottage stands apart -- her oasis amid

urban blight. by the '90s, homeless -- living in parked cars -- provide an edgy backdrop for the grunge-rock scene. but all the while, developers are slowly gobbling up edith's neighborhood, says real-estate broker paul thomas. >> each time a parcel came up on the market, they'd just quietly acquire it and let it sit in an llc, and they assembled the whole entire block, except for her house. >> it's in early 2006 when edith gets the knock at her door. it's a representative of kg investment management, which wants to put up a shopping mall. the developer makes a proposal they think the 84-year-old can't refuse -- $750,000! what do you think the house was worth? >> $150,000. [ chuckles ] it wasn't worth very much. >> edith could buy five whitewood cottages. even so, she does refuse the offer. and the bulldozers roll around

her. >> i have a picture when they tore everything down in the whole block and it was just her house in the middle of the block. >> reporters catch wind of the story and turn edith into a local folk hero -- a steadfast champion against yuppification, standing up for seattle's old neighborhoods, defying the encroaching chain boutiques, food courts, and those $6 lattes. that's how they portray edith. and that's exactly who barry martin expects when he becomes construction manager of the mall. how did you meet edith? >> i always go visit the neighbors and give them my card so that if they have any problems, they know who to get ahold of, and i walked past her yard and introduced myself. she was actually very pleasant and said she was looking forward to the activity. >> turns out, edith wasn't watching garbo flicks because she "vanted to be alone." that becomes clear with edith's

beauty-shop appointment. she needs a ride, so she calls barry. not exactly what he was thinking when he dropped off his card, but what the heck? he drives her. they get to talking. >> a lot of people thought that she was against development, and that wasn't the case at all. it was more she just didn't want to go through the exercise of having to move. >> indeed, edith actually makes fun of the anti-development types, who, among other things, are trying to get landmark status for the local denny's. edith's view -- things get built, things get torn down. that's the way of the world. it wouldn't be their last car talk. soon, barry's co-workers call him "driving miss daisy." could you rattle off for me some of the errands you were asked to do for her? >> i would take her laundry out to be done. we would go get her lunch. i would take her to all of her doctor's appointments. >> she didn't pay you. >> no. she just needed it. >> you're not a saint.

>> nope. >> but his wife and two high-school-age children surely have the patience of job, when barry spends more and more time at edith's. >> i made her meals three times a day, seven days a week. on the weekends, basically, i'd stay there, and if not, then i had made sure that somebody else was there. >> barry isn't there one night when edith falls and lands in the hospital with broken ribs and a platoon of social workers insisting she should no longer live alone. then tag-teaming executives from the development company show up again with a deed ready to sign and another big fat check. >> they offered her $1 million and actually offered to buy a house for her in ballard and she refused that, also. >> $1 million for a little old granny and a new house in her neighborhood, and she says no. >> yes. >> what would you have done? >> i would have probably taken

the money and had somebody fanning me with big feathers and feeding me figs. >> the 84-year-old seen here turned down $1 million payout. >> it just adds to the edith macefield legend -- a story that can't help but go national. what's infuriating barry is that he believes he's cast as one of the black hats, trying to manipulate old edith into selling out. the truth, he says, is just the opposite. >> i promised her that, um, i wouldn't let them take her away and that she could stay there and die in her house. >> that's a really big promise. >> it is. and it became a lot bigger deal than, you know, i had originally anticipated. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question -- where was america's first indoor shopping mall built? the answer in a moment.

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>> it's "b" -- minnesota. the southdale center in edina, the country's first fully-enclosed, climate-controlled mall, opened in 1956. >> in 2008, 86-year-old edith macefield and her

whitewood cottage stand in the way of a shopping mall. barry martin's job is to build that mall. but he's also made it his life's work to keep edith in her home. barry didn't even know edith two years before. now he just doesn't know what to make of her. >> she had a lot of stories to tell and she never really finished a story. >> but, boy, the way she drops names, you'd think she's forrest gump. like hitler -- she met him several times, ended up in a concentration camp, and was sprung by the fuhrer himself. benny goodman -- her cousin, she claimed -- he gave her her clarinet. tommy dorsey, the band leader -- once, when he was short on cash, she bought his sax. mickey rooney -- she taught him dance steps. and so on. barry has one thought -- edith's a wack job. >> i was thinking "crazy old lady" for a while.

>> but in the winter of 2007, edith's health suddenly declines. just as suddenly, the construction manager finds himself doing things he really never signed up for -- helping edith shower, use the bathroom, take her medicine, including insulin shots. a big question occurs to barry -- what happens when the mall is done and he moves to another job? what happens if edith lives to 100? that won't happen. in april 2008, edith is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. she declines treatment and, knowing she'll soon need someone else to make her decisions, gives barry her power of attorney. it's a big responsibility. did you really want it? >> i didn't really want it, and i didn't really understand exactly what all it meant. >> uh-oh. >> yeah, uh-oh. i said, "do you understand the power you're giving me?" and she said, "why do you think i chose you?" >> did you know all along that you were going to get that house? >> no. i didn't know until after she

asked me to become her power of attorney. then she said that she wanted to redo her will at that same time. >> barry's a bit sheepish, knowing many suspect him of angling for the house from the beginning. but that's her wish -- like her desire to die on the same couch as her mother three decades earlier. and on june 15, 2008, death does come -- as a friend -- to whitewood cottage. >> i promised her that i wouldn't let them take her away and that she could stay there and die in her house. >> does it make you emotional? >> it does. >> why? >> um... because i got to help her end her life the way she wanted to. >> the little house in the big mall is now barry's.

but soon he'll discover that, thanks to a hollywood blockbuster, edith macefield fans will claim it as their own. >> there were people out on the sidewalk taking pictures and leaving little notes and putting up balloons with messages on them. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. you've met barry martin, the construction manager in this story. the answer after the break. [ soft music ]

e.t. phone home.

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>> it's spring 2009, and barry martin is trying to figure out what to do with his strange inheritance -- a house he helped build a mall around. the owner, edith macefield, had died the year before, and barry assumes memories of her will fade, too. but then disney comes a-calling. it's ready to release an animated feature called "up." it's about a crotchety old man who, just like edith, refuses to sell his house to a developer. disney wants to use edith's house to promote the film. >> they wanted to put balloons on the house for their premiere heuse and took a picture and that's how it became the "up" house. >> did you think it was a good idea? >> i thought it was rather funny, myself, and then after i saw the movie, there's actually some photographs that look very similar to the picture in the movie. >> soon, edith's cottage and

that of character carl fredricksen are associated as one. >> there were people out on the sidewalk taking pictures and leaving little notes and putting up balloons with messages on them. >> and inspirational, it sounds like. >> very. inspirational to different people for different reasons. kids loved it because they thought it was really the house from the movie. you'd see grown-ups crying on the sidewalk. >> she stuck to her guns, you know, even though she could have made a ton of money. >> this woman was kind of the last holdout. she wanted to keep her home, and that's huge. >> it's amazing. i can't believe that she held out. >> but by the time the movie "up" comes out, the nation is in a downer -- the great recession. and barry's real life is anything but a storybook fantasy. >> that was right about when we had our downturn. i was out of work. >> so, barry decides it's time to sell edith's house. she once turned down $1 million for the place, but the window on that offer closed long ago. >> did she tell you she would be

okay with you selling it? >> oh, yeah, and she told me to hold out until i got my price. >> what did you sell it for? >> i sold it for $310,000. [ cash register dings ] >> what did you do with the money, may i ask? >> paid for my kids to go to school. i invested the money and got money back monthly, and it made my house payment. >> that's not nothing. plus, barry says the new owners planned -- in the spirit of "up" -- to raise edith's house 20 feet off the ground and make a public tribute to her below. but they run out of money, and the house falls into foreclosure. >> what was your role in all this? >> i was hired by the bank to sell the house for them. >> the bank includes a provision in the face of pressure from local community groups who want an homage to their folk hero. >> one of the terms of the sale was that each person was required to memorialize edith in some way. >> 38 offers come in, but it's the 39th that wins --

at $450,000. [ cash register dings ] the buyer? the same folks who offered edith $1 million years before -- kg investments, now the manager of the shopping mall. they plan to knock the house down, eventually. so, ultimately, edith's house went to the organization that wanted to buy it all along. >> well, it's kind of neat in a way because she got what she wished for and the shopping center ended up being able to buy the property at a lot lower price than they originally had offered. >> will they do anything to remember edith? >> the ownership has committed that they'll put up a brass plaque that memorializes edith. >> it will be just one more way the ballard community pays tribute to its folk hero. there's also an annual edith macefield music festival. ♪ you can even get a tattoo of edith's house with the legend underneath -- "steadfast." for the heir in this "strange inheritance" episode, that's further proof edith was

misunderstood. maybe even, he'd discover, by himself. >> you must have learned an awful lot about edith once you started to go through her things. >> i learned a lot more than she had let me know. that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients.

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from icy ocean waters...to your wild-ckitchen counter. mon. when you cook with incredible ingredients...you make incredible meals. get your first two meals free at blueapron.com/cook. >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> barry martin doesn't just inherit edith macefield's home, but everything else she owned. >> wow, you must have learned an awful lot about edith, once you started to go through her things. >> i learned a lot more than she had let me know. >> and enough to question whether all her stories were as wacko as he once thought. >> did she have a vivid imagination, or do you think most of it was real? >> i'm a little -- i'm not quite -- >> you still don't know.

>> i still don't know. exactly. >> what did you find? well, evidence that she was benny goodman's cousin -- this album, inscribed "your cousin, benny goodman." and quite personal notes from a-list actors -- clark gable, katharine hepburn, spencer tracy, and errol flynn. >> there's charlie chaplin. there's tommy and jimmy dorsey. >> okay, okay -- nothing about meeting hitler or being a spy. still, it dawns on barry that the most valuable thing edith bequeathed to him could be her story -- now his. >> i had an agent contact me about writing a book, and she actually talked me into doing it. >> you ever write a book before? >> no, never written a book before, and she got me a ghostwriter, and we did it that way. >> what's the story? >> the story is basically about edith and myself and our little adventure and then the lessons that i learned. >> "under one roof" gets barry a

$75,000 advance from the publisher. and that's not all. >> actually in the process of making a deal with fox searchlight. >> did you ever think you'd be making a book and a movie about all this? >> no. i just about fall down on the floor laughing because it's hysterical to me. >> i think it could work. i'm picturing a "driving miss daisy" type of guy meets a female forrest gump and they go on a real-life "up" adventure. and definitely got to give john ratzenberger the lead. there's a scene in the movie "up" that sounds exactly like one edith might have had with barry. carl fredricksen, the man whose house the real-estate company wants to buy, says to the construction foreman, "tell your boss he can have my house." "really?" asks the foreman. "yeah, when i'm dead," growls carl and slams the door. i'm jamie colby for

"strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching, and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> a rock 'n' roll legend. >> the crazy thing about roy orbison is, from 1959 to 1964, he had 21 top 40 hits. >> he dies too soon, with three young sons. >> he had secretly always wanted us to be musicians, but he wasn't gonna push. >> does he send them on a musical mission from beyond the grave? >> and then i kind of rubbed my eyes, and then looked at this. >> he said, "i've got this cassette of this song that nobody has heard before." >> will this strange inheritance bring roy and his boys together again? >> had you always dreamt of playing with your dad? >> always, yes. >> [ chuckles ] mercy! [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ]

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm cruisin' into nashville, tennessee. music city. i'm on my way to meet the sons of rock legend roy orbison. turns out the man who gave the world "oh, pretty woman," "only the lonely," and "you got it" left his heirs an unexpected treasure, and possibly the opportunity of a lifetime. >> i'm alex orbison. even though my dad, roy orbison, passed away in 1988, my brothers and i, 25 years later, found something that would help us realize a lifelong dream. >> alex! >> hello. >> how are you? i'm in hendersonville, just outside nashville, and alex has invited me to a musical landmark. incredible. i can't believe i'm here. >> welcome. >> thank you so much. and the cash cabin. what is this place? >> johnny cash built this cabin in the '80s as a getaway. one of the best recording

studios in the world. >> and the families were close? >> yeah, our families go back to the '50s, when johnny and roy were roommates and labelmates at sun records. >> i can't wait to learn more, and i would love to see inside. >> of course. >> this cabin has been a creative refuge for dozens of major recording artists, but it's also like home to roy's boys, and a link to their late father. what was he like as a dad? >> he was pretty wonderful as a dad. >> born in 1936, roy spent much of his youth in vernon, texas. i heard that he wrote his first song at 8? >> he definitely had his first radio show as an 8-year-old. he walked down with his guitar and knocked on the door, and he said, "yeah, my name's roy orbison, and i want to play some songs for you guys." by the end of the year he had his own show every saturday. >> in 1955, a fateful meeting with johnny cash at a local tv

station sparks roy's musical career, and gets him an invitation to sun records in memphis, tennessee. not long after, roy marries his childhood sweetheart, claudette frady. they move to nashville, and roy rockets to the top of the charts with a string of hits, including "oh, pretty woman" in 1964. was "oh, pretty woman" a game changer? >> people loved the song. it really made him into an international superstar. >> ♪ oh, pretty woman >> roy and claudette have three boys -- roy dewayne, anthony, and wesley. roy can't ask for more, either professionally or personally. then, in 1966, tragedy strikes. >> claudette and my dad were coming back from the drag races on their motorcycles. at the end of the ride, a truck had pulled out, and claudette was killed instantly. >> as a 30-year old widower with

three young sons, roy relies on his parents, who live across the street, for childcare while he soothes himself by writing and touring. back in nashville, young wesley finds comfort in his father's songs. >> that's kind of how i'd visit with him, 'cause he was on the road all the time. so i would just always would go to those records and listen. >> while on tour in leeds, england, in 1968, roy's drummer insists he go out and have some fun. at a nightclub, roy meets 17-year-old beauty barbara jakobs. >> he ran into my mom. and my dad looked over and said, "grab that girl. i'm gonna marry her." >> the two fall in love instantly, starting a long-distance romance. just as roy's getting on his feet, he suffers another devastating loss. on september 15th, a fire rips through his home in nashville.

where was he when the fire happened? >> he was doing the last show of a tour in england. he was showing pictures of the boys, and how happy he was to go home, and there was a knock on the door in the night, and then that's when he found out. >> roy's parents and 3-year-old wesley are able to escape. but his two older sons, 10-year-old roy dewayne and 6-year-old tony, are killed. was it something your dad was able to talk about? >> i've gone back through interviews, and what he said is if you look back and you're not a crazy person, then you'd be grateful for what you did have, and not what you don't have. >> it's barbara jakobs who helps him through his grief. in 1969, they marry, and go on to have two boys, roy junior and alex. for now, roy's career takes a backseat to family life. did he encourage you guys to play? >> he didn't push us. he just left guitars all around the house for us to find.

>> had you always dreamt of playing with your dad? >> always, yes. >> as the 1980s unfold, the entertainment world re-discovers roy orbison. linda ronstadt covers "blue bayou," and van halen "pretty woman." both become big hits. then, in 1986, director david lynch chooses roy's song "in dreams" for his film "blue velvet." >> there again, my dad's on the forefront of some groundbreaking thing 'cause david lynch loved his music. >> roy orbison is making a comeback. he's inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame with none other than "the boss," bruce springsteen, doing the honors. >> ♪ and i'm just killing time >> and while roy works on recording a new album called "mystery girl," producer jeff lynne introduces him to tom petty. the three, along with old friends bob dylan and george harrison, start jamming at each other's houses. >> out of that was born the

travelling wilburys. >> traveling wilburys, volume one, is released in october 1988, while "mystery girl" is slated for release in february. it's a milestone roy never reaches. on december 6, 1988, he dies of a massive heart attack while visiting his parents' home in nashville. he's 52 years old. >> i was so crushed as a 12-year-old kid. there was just such a loss. there's no -- no real way to describe it in words. >> but those classic songs and timeless sound live on. orbison continues to be irresistible to hollywood. a year after his death "pretty woman" the movie makes julia roberts a superstar, and orbison becomes as big in death as he was in life. he also leaves behind something very special to fill the hole left in his young boys' lives. >> the inheritance is strange,

but the legacy is love. >> ♪ you got it >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. what was roy orbison's first #1 single -- "ooby dooby," "only the lonely," "running scared," or "crying"? the answer in a moment.

>> so, what was roy orbison's first #1 single? it's "b." "only the lonely" was released on march 25, 1960, and reached #2 on the billboard hot 100 charts before going to #1 in great britain. >> music legend roy orbison dies from a heart attack in nashville in december 1988. he's 52 years old. at the time, he was about to release a solo album, "mystery girl." though roy's not here to revel in it, he's got another hit. >> from the outsider's perspective, this would be a tragedy that roy didn't live to see the success of this. i think my dad was already in a new career peak, where the guy was not walking down the street without getting mobbed. >> the song "you got it" makes it into the top 10 on the charts. quiet on the set, all right? and in case you need a refresher, my trip to the cash cabin comes complete with a

serenade from wesley orbison. >> ♪ i see a love that money just can't buy ♪ ♪ one look from you ♪ >> i'm crying. okay? >> ♪ i drift away ♪ i pray that you are here ♪ >> ♪ to stay >> ♪ anything you want >> ♪ you got it roy orbison clearly passed down his love of music, and that distinctive sound. but when their mother, barbara, dies in 2011, roy's boys are also the sole heirs to his entire music library. in honor of both parents, they work on a re-release of "mystery girl," which is coming up on its 25th anniversary. this time, they hope to produce a deluxe version with previously unreleased tracks. >> i realized that we had

unreleased material that no one had really known exactly what to do with it. >> roy's boys believe somewhere in the massive archive there must be a recording of a song they remember their dad singing around the house, a family favorite called "the way is love." >> "the way is love" is a song that wasn't meant to be released. he was just saying it, like under his breath. just mumbling it, tapping. that was something coming out of him. >> alex decides this would be the perfect song to include. only one problem. he can't find the tape anywhere in what amounts to 30 years worth of material. >> we do have everything catalogued pretty well but there was a large pile of stuff that wasn't. there could be 5,000 cassette tapes, dat tapes. >> so you said, "i have to dig in"? >> i said, "look, everyone, whatever you're doing, drop it. we're gonna go get in the vault and find this tape." >> did you have to listen to thousands of things? >> i had been in the archives

looking through everything for hours, and out of being tired, i had leaned my hand up against the wall, and then kind of rubbed my eyes, and then looked. and i thought, "what is this?" >> after weeks of searching, the original cassette tape for "the way is love" is sitting right in front of him. filled with excitement, alex calls family friend john carter cash, son of the late johnny cash. >> he said, "hey, listen, i've got this cassette tape of this song that nobody has heard before." however, it was an old cassette-tape recording. it had tape warble -- in other words, the pitch would go up and down. [ indistinct warbly singing ] the cash cabin's audio engineer, chuck turner, plays me that original cassette tape, just as alex discovered it. >> ♪ and right the wrong because ♪ >> and as you can hear, all

the artifacts from the analogue cassette -- the hiss, the warble john mentioned. >> desperate to perfect their father's voice on such a sentimental tune, roy's boys and john carter cash search for someone who can restore the sound of their dad singing "the way is love." how far did you have to go -- >> to the end of the internet. john carter had a meeting with one of our guys from sony, and i said, "oh, we have this project, and we're just going through these struggles." and he said, "oh, well, i know a guy who is in germany who specializes in this kind of stuff". >> did the german folks get it right? >> they said that there was nothing they could do. >> your heart must have sank. >> it was so heartbreaking. it's almost like a roy orbison song. >> is all hope lost, or has dad left his boys another surprise? is it a coincidence or are you guys playing with us? >> it gave me cold chills. like, "wow!" >> that's next on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question

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>> so, which of the following artists covered roy orbison's "oh, pretty woman"? the answer is "a." alvin and the chipmunks recorded the song for their 1990 album, "rockin' through the decades." >> it's 2013 in nashville, and almost 25 years since the release of roy orbison's "mystery girl" album. roy's three sons want to package a 25th-anniversary re-release, this time with bonus tracks

from the vast music library they inherited. one ballad in particular, "the way is love," has never been heard in public. alex hunts down the recording among thousands, but it's very low quality. >> [ warbling ] ♪ i'd invite the whole wide world to come back to the school ♪ >> and the brothers cannot agree on what to do next. >> i wanted to just release it like that. i like the hiss. roy by himself? you can't beat it. so, i had a little bit more of an obstacle. like, "what are we gonna add to this, or are we gonna tamper with a masterpiece?" >> "are we doing good or are we gonna put a mustache on the mona lisa here?" the thing was, "the way is love," the quality of the actual recording didn't pass the muster on its own. >> the audio is so bad, they can't even be sure what the words are. >> as we were working on it, listening to the old recording, we're all struggling and writing down all these words. >> just when it seems it's time to pull the plug on "the way is love," the team has

a breakthrough. >> a couple of weeks go by, and i'm in one of johnny cash's filing cabinets looking through song lyrics. and lo and behold, there are the lyrics to "the way is love" from roy orbison. >> is it a coincidence or are you guys playing with us? >> [ laughs ] >> that's amazing. >> yeah, it's really neat. it gave me cold chills when i found the lyrics, just like, "wow!" >> then comes a surprise call from those german engineers. using a new supercomputer, they find a solution to restore roy's vocals. remember what it sounded like before? [ indistinct warbly singing ] >> so, we took it from that and came up with this. >> ♪ the way is love ♪ the way you love tonight ♪ the way of love makes everything all right ♪ >> wow. wow. it gives you chills. >> yeah, it does.

>> now that they've recovered their dad's voice, the brothers are ready to do something they have wanted to do since they were kids -- record a song with their father. roy with his boys. >> i asked wesley, "i think we should play on this thing, what do you think?" and it was one of those little pauses, and he said, "oh, sure. that's -- yeah. 100% we should do that. >> did anyone say, "that's a crazy idea"? or you were all all-in? >> no, we were all-in. >> everyone's finally ready to rock 'n' roll. roy jr., wesley, and john carter cash agree to play guitar. alex will play drums, and all of roy's boys will sing back-up vocals. listening to it in its raw form even, it's magnificent. fixed up, cleaned up, and with you guys added on? wow. what would your dad say? >> the way is love. i mean it's there in the title. >> about to fulfill their childhood fantasy, they feel something they never

anticipated -- stage fright. >> my heart rate would come up, and i was thinking about playing to this big deal. >> that's next. my school reunion's coming fast.

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bring out the bold™. >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> it's spring 2014 just outside nashville, tennessee, at the cash cabin studio. cutting-edge technology, his sons have restored a homemade recording he did of a song called "the way is love." take me inside that room when you hear your dad's voice from the heavens. >> it was just like hearing an old friend. >> it was surreal, but also a familiar feeling. >> as they prepare to record the orchestration and back-up vocals, they get an unexpected case of the butterflies.

>> i was nervous the night before, i couldn't sleep. they had to drag me in to play guitar. that was like skydiving. [ roy orbison singing "love is the way" ] i remember specifically thinking "this is one of the toughest songs we could do." it's not quick, it's not technical, but it's free-flowing. >> ♪ the way is love >> ♪ the way is love >> were there tears? >> tears of joy, kind of. it's almost like climbing up to the top of a mountain or something. you know, there's just such a sense of relief. >> ♪ makes everything all right ♪ >> just to hear the boys, 'cause that's the boys singing with their father after all these years, it's so inspiring. but it gave us a chance to get in, be family, and spend time together. >> just like your dads. >> yeah, 'cause our dads were. >> ♪ the way of looooooove

>> the 25th-anniversary edition of roy orbison's "mystery girl" is released on may 20, 2014. the box set includes a documentary directed by alex. >> we did a premiere here at the belcourt in nashville, and then we did one at the grammy museum in l.a. >> wesley was like, "man, now the album's out. like, when are we gonna do it again?" >> i can't even tell you how much it meant. this location is special, and it's johnny's place. johnny was our godfather, and still is. john carter is my first friend, my best friend. >> i think actually the parents would look down at us. we're still just kids playing around, playing the big boys' game. >> [ hums ] >> hit this one twice. >> my trip to nashville wouldn't be complete without a private guitar lesson from roy orbison. junior, that is. >> okay, watch this. open, open, and then there on the same string.

then you're jumping one string down for two, five. >> uh-huh. okay, got it. okay. >> i think you actually can do this. >> so that's one, two, four, >> two, five. >> two... where's five? >> right there. >> five. that's five, okay. >> yeah, it's got that little... >> so, one, two, four, two, five. >> that's it. that is actually it. >> yay! [ claps ] [ laughter ] >> am i on? oh. remember i said orbison left behind other music and previously unreleased material? well, here's the story. back in the early 1970s, orbison became disenchanted with his record label, mgm records, and left. some of the albums he recorded with mgm were simply shelved. another project for roy's three sons, and his next generation of fans. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us?

we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com >> the people's house -- a family's legend. >> i can remember being a little kid and asking my father what it was. >> a century-old mystery. >> he said, "it's from the white house." and i go, "talking about d.c. white house?" i was just stunned. >> the white house neither confirms nor denies... >> what do you see? >> gold! [ laughs ] >> let's investigate! >> i scrape the paint layers down to the wood. >> and when you heard what it was worth? >> and sold! [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in boston to meet an heir