Johnnie Allan
“Swamp Pop Legend & Cajun Storyteller”
Quick Intro
Johnnie Allan—born John Allen Guillot in Rayne, Louisiana (1938)—is affectionately known as the King, Ambassador, and Elder Statesman of swamp pop, the genre he helped define through his soulful fusion of R&B, Cajun, and country influences.
In-Depth Profile
Raised in a musical family—his mother was the goddaughter of Cajun pioneers Joe Falcon and Cleoma Breaux—Johnnie began gigging at 13 with Walter Mouton and then Lawrence Walker. Inspired by Elvis’ Louisiana Hayride, he formed the Krazy Kats in 1958 and recorded Lonely Days, Lonely Nights on Jin Records, a defining swamp-pop track. Through the decades, nearly all of Johnnie’s catalog—his quintessential swamp-pop recordings—came through Jin Records, the label that shaped and preserved swamp-pop’s legacy. He’s accumulated countless LPs, CDs, and singles and toured internationally while staying rooted in his Louisiana soul.
Johnnie Allan is much more than a swamp pop singer; he’s a living archive of Louisiana’s musical soul. From the honky-tonks of Rayne to stages around the world, Allan has bridged generations and genres with a voice and style uniquely his own. His blend of swamp pop, Cajun flair, and country storytelling has kept the sound alive while pushing its boundaries.
Allan’s influence runs deep — he’s inspired countless artists who came after him, and his dedication to preserving Cajun and swamp pop music helped secure their place in America’s musical landscape. His career spans over six decades, yet he’s never lost touch with the community roots that shaped his sound. Whether headlining a local dancehall or touring internationally, Allan remains deeply connected to the Louisiana spirit.
His recordings reveal a musician who’s as comfortable delivering heartfelt ballads as he is igniting dance floors with spirited two-steps. Alongside his musical career, Allan has been an educator and storyteller, sharing the history of his culture through his books, lectures, and personal archives. His ongoing efforts have helped preserve Louisiana’s unique heritage for future generations, making him not just a performer, but a cultural treasure
Signature Tracks
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“Promised Land” — his swamp-pop twist on the Chuck Berry classic that earned gold status and worldwide acclaim
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“Let’s Go Get Drunk” — a hometown favorite that still turns dials and fills dance floors
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“South to Louisiana” — evocative ode to home that captures the heart of Bayou country in both sound and sentiment
Notable Accomplishments & Awards
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CFMA Male Vocalist of the Year — 1990
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CFMA Male Vocalist of the Year & Best CD (“Shine On”) — 2012
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Recognized by the Cajun French Music Association for cultural contributions
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Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee — an honor from the regional music community
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Gold record for “Promised Land,” based on sales across formats
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Honored by the Louisiana Swamp Pop Museum, preserving the legacy of swamp-pop founders like Allan
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Held in high regard by Louisiana’s cultural institutions, including archive collections at the University of Louisiana
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Multiple OffBeat Magazine Best of the Beat Award Nominations
Bonus Notes
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Author of two books: Memories: A Pictorial History of South Louisiana Music (1988) and Born to Be a Loser: The Jimmy Donley Story (1992, with Bernice Larson Webb)
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Education career: A longtime school administrator by day—and swamp-pop ambassador by night—he’s toured Europe and beyond while nurturing Louisiana roots. Later, he donated his music archives and memorabilia to university collections for preservation.
Album Reviews
Something Old, Something New
BluesRag Magazine — Written by Dan Willging (January 2021)
“A fitting close to an eight-decade legacy, Johnnie Allan’s return to the studio offers a beautiful blend of nostalgia and fresh energy.”
Octogenarian Johnnie Allan never thought he would step into a recording studio again at the twilight of his career. That is until Jin Records’ Floyd Soileau approached him about waxing a French version of Ernest Tubb’s 1965 hit “Waltz Across Texas.” Surprisingly, this had never been covered in Cajun music before, even with the scads of country songs Belton Richard translated into French during his heyday. Nonetheless, “Waltz” was a brilliant Cajun music candidate since waltzes are popular in Lonestar and Pelican State dancehalls. The next day Allan had a beautiful translation of Tubb’s classic titled “Valser la Louisiane.” He also informed Soileau he had written two new French songs, so, with his topnotch crew of musicians, Allan found himself back in the studio.
Emotionally speaking, Allan’s two originals, “Sunday Morning Streets” and “Pure, Pure Cajun,” couldn’t be more opposite of each other. The former is a sad, slow waltz about a distraught, lonely widower who drinks himself to death while the latter, a lively two-step, finds a happier Cajun living life large.
To finalize the Something Old, Something New concept, Allan selected 10 previously recorded songs, a mixture of swamp pop, country and R&B, that had never been released on CD. Included in this treasure trove of rarities is the oft-requested “Polycarp Phillip Pecot #2,” the theme song of the popular Lafayette children’s ‘60s television show Polycarp and Pals. Fifty-five years later, the reggae-ized tune (melodically similar to “Hang On Sloopy”) remains as infectious as ever.
Also featured is the original version of “Cajun Man” that was recorded by High Performance for its 2017 Cajun Cool album. With UJ Meaux’s rollicking piano accompaniment, Allan’s version still sounds great in a cool retro sense. (Meaux can also be heard pounding along on the swamp popper “I’ll Be Waiting.”)
Of special interest to George Jones fans is Allan’s rendition of “Big Fool of the Year,” the flip side to the Possum’s 1962 ‘45 rpm’ “A Girl I Used to Know.”
Considering there’s a 60-year span between the earliest song (“I’ll Be Waiting) and the three Allan wrapped up last fall, his pipes are still remarkable and exude respectable power. Whether Allan ever records again is immaterial. This is a good one to close out an eight-decade legacy.
Memories
OffBeat Magazine — Written by Big Geez (September 2008)
“A lively collection of feel-good music from the bayou — just what folks need to forget their troubles.”
A seemingly endless parade of tropical storms sweeping into the Southeast and blanketing bayou country leads me to one conclusion. It’s time to shrug off the bad weather and listen to Memories, a new album on the Jin Records label from Louisiana swamp-pop legend Johnnie Allan.
Johnnie, who was born John Allan Guillot and is the offspring of Louisiana Cajun parents, has been a fixture on the regional music scene for many years.
During his long career he’s performed just about every kind of music popular to the area, and along the way has become known as the ‘King of Swamp-Pop’.
This collection of 22 tracks offers up a sampling of Johnnie’s singing style through the years, with examples from every era of his colorful career. It also includes a variety of sounds that show his comfort with all kinds of material, as he crosses genres with ease. Examples range from the slow and bluesy “Come Sundown” to the rousing, rockabilly-styled “All By Myself,” which was probably my favorite on the album.
He’s also never been afraid to tackle songs that might be more familiar to listeners from other sources, such as the exotic “Isle Of Capri,” or “Before The Next Teardrop Falls,” a number-one hit for Freddy Fender. Johnnie does a good job with both pieces, although his strength is still with songs that echo he strong swamp-pop roots. He’s at his best with regional standards such as his own composition, “Wanting To Get Over You.”
The Essential Collection
Blues Art Magazine — Written by Norman Darwen (March 2006)
“This set proves there is much more to Johnnie Allan than ‘Promised Land’ — a truly essential collection of Louisiana swamp pop.”
Legend is one of the most over-used words in the music industry, but there can be no argument with its use here. John Allan Guillot was born in Rayne, Louisiana in 1938 and began recording twenty years later as a member of the Krazy Kats, having been singing and playing rhythm and steel guitar since early in the decade. He went on to become a schoolteacher and a tireless champion for Louisiana culture (his great uncle was the inimitable accordionist Joe Falcon); I interviewed him around two decades ago and he still strikes me as one of the most gracious people I have ever met!
But what of the music? Well, these days “American Roots Music” is also an over-used term but again, there is no disputing that Louisiana swamp-pop is roots music par excellence. Its spiritual home is on Floyd Soileau’s Jin label, and there are 25 slices of it here, in its purest form. There are plenty of those south Louisiana two chord ballads that betray the influence of Fats Domino and others, all yearning vocals, droning horns and tinkling piano; there is jerky New Orleans rock and roll with a Cajun accent, there are a few Country & Western tunes with a verse or two in French just to stamp a Cajun identity on them, there are a couple of items that could only come from listening to early sixties pop, there are some numbers that mix all these elements up together, and of course, there is “Promised Land.” This set proves that there is much, much more to Johnnie Allan than this, his best known number (in Europe anyway), but it is undeniably one of the finest two minutes on vinyl to come out of the US. Chuck Berry’s rocker, of course, with a furious, raw, driving rhythm, Johnnie’s impassioned vocal (and that endearing mistake in the lyrics), and the unforgettable wheezing accordion breaks simply astounding, and if you don’t know it, I envy you the pleasure of hearing it for the first time!
The Essential Collection is the subtitle of this album, and that is indisputably the truth!