Johnnie Allan born 10 March 1938

Johnnie Allan (born March 10, 1938) is an American pioneer of the swamp pop musical genre. 

Johnnie Allan, real name John Allen Guillot was born in Rayne, Louisiana.  At age six he obtained his first guitar and learned to play from his mother. By age thirteen he was playing with Walter Mouton & the Scott Playboys, a traditional Cajun band. Two years later he switched to Lawrence Walker & the Wandering Aces, another Cajun band. While still in high school, he played 6 to 8 gigs a week.  In 1956, he saw Elvis Presley perform live on the Louisiana Hayride music program, and shortly afterwards Allan began to play rock & roll music.  In 1958, he left Walker to form the Krazy Kats. 

Allan and his band changed their style to what would later become known as "Swamp Pop," a combination of Cajun melodies, country, rock and roll, and blues. That same year he recorded "Lonely Days, Lonely Nights" and “My baby’s Gone” for JIN Records of Ville Platte, Louisiana with Floyd Soileau and "Letter of Love" the following year. The record sold well and soon MGM picked it up to release nationwide. His "Letter of Love" was released on Mercury with his next record, "South to Louisiana" released on Viking. 

During this time, Allan attended the University of Southern Louisiana in Lafayette, graduating with a degree in Education. Between 1967 and 1969 Johnnie Allan focused on his master's degree.  Through the 70’s he stayed busy as a assistant principal at Acadian Elementary School and played clubs on the weekend.  Six weeks into Allan's first teaching job, he was called into active duty in the National Guard for the Berlin Crisis. When he returned, he discovered that his band's song, "Your Picture" was on the radio. 

                              

He soon returned back to Floyd Soileau and was recording for his Jin label. He had a hit in 1973 with "Somewhere on Skid Row" but the next year proved even stronger. Johnnie had a hit with his cover of Chuck Berry's "Promised Land". 

The cover was a swamp pop adaption of the rock classic featuring a accordion solo from Belton Richard. In fact, Johnnie recorded his version of "Promised Land" before Elvis made his. But it did not get to reach the overseas market due to legal problems. Four years later it was released overseas and found Johnnie flying to London to promote the record. By 1982 he had eight albums to his name, including the "South to Louisiana" greatest hits compilation. 

Allan has also been one of the greatest champions of all things musically Acadian, travelling the back roads and bayous of the state in search of photographic evidence of a scene that in far too many cases, has only been glimpsed by those who were lucky enough to have been there when it all happened. Published in his must-have book “Memories: A Pictorial History of South Louisiana Music” (1988), are photographs of bands so obscure that many of them never even recorded. His other book “Born to Be a Loser” (1992, with Bernice Larson Webb), is a biography of swamp pop musician Jimmy Donley. 

Although he considered retiring from performing a few years ago, his devoted fans would not let that happen. He has continued to perform in Cajun country and made yearly tours to Europe as well.  He has also been a regular live performer at various festivals.

In 2020 he released his latest album “Something Old Something New" Whether Allan ever records again is immaterial. This is a good one to close out an eight-decade legacy. 

(Edited mainly from Johnnie Allan Papers @ University of Louisiana at Lafayette & Ponderosa Stomp)