BIOgraphy

 LEONARD WALLS

Len Walls began his career in the music business in 1959, when he started working as a DJ at WGOA-AM radio in Orlando, FL. He continued in radio for several years, working in Florida, Indiana and Tennessee. It was while he was working in Tennessee that Len had his first brush with the recording industry. He was involved with recording the Blackwood Brothers Quartet for the RCA Camden label. The session was groundbreaking - it was the first time organ was used in a Southern gospel recording. This experience would eventually lead Len to be co-owner and operator of Central Sound Recording Studio in Central Florida from 1971 until 1986.

In 1980, promoter Glenn Reeves asked Len to work as stage manager for the first Orange Blossom Jamboree extravaganza. The OBJ shows spanned several days and brought vast numbers of big name talent to a rather rustic acreage across from the Lakeland Speedway outside of Lakeland, Florida. This was Len's first involvement with the production of live concert events. Not only did he excel in the live show arena - he fell in love with it!

Len eventually sold his interest in the studio and went to work for the Carpenters Home Church in Lakeland, Florida, doing radio, recording and sound system events. During this same time, Len continued working with Reeves, doing concert production and promotion.

In 1983, Len and Glenn approached WHOO Radio in Orlando with the idea for a sponsor driven listener appreciation show called "Family Reunion". The concept was a great success. Although different stations call the show by different names, the extravagant outdoor events are still going strong and in great demand all across the eastern seaboard.

In 1991, Len Walls and Glenn Reeves merged their two independent companies and set up corporate offices in Jacksonville Beach as Mellojean, Inc. Len moved to Jacksonville Beach and the company produced fairs, festivals, and radio station promotional events all over the east - and as far west as Oklahoma City.

Glenn Reeves passed away in 1998, and Len left Mellojean in 1999. In 2000, Len incorporated 4-Walls Entertainment in conjunction with his son Philip and his two daughters Suzie and Caroline. Each person brings their individual expertise to different aspects of the family business. As president, Len is still involved in all of the company's business including buying talent - producing & promoting the events - and single-handedly having to provide the info and materials for the website :-)

Among Len's most memorable shows, he always includes:

The decommissioning of the USS Saratoga at Mayport Naval Station in 1996. The show featured the Four Tops and Shenandoah. In attendance were Vice President Al Gore and several top naval officers who had served in WWII. In his own words, Len says it was "an awesome event."

In 1997, 4-Walls Entertainment produced the "30th Birthday of the Visitor's Center" show at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The talent included Clay Walker and Diamond Rio.

Also at Kennedy Space Center in 1999, "The 30th Anniversary of the Moon Walk" tribute looms as a memorable event. All of the astronauts who were still living were there and the show featured the music of the Byrds and the Supremes, both of which had hits in 1969.

It's been an interesting trip from his early days of radio through the studio years to the major concert events 4Walls Entertainment now produces, but - if you ask Len Walls - he wouldn't have missed a minute of it.