Johnnie Allan (b. John Allen Guillot) was born on March 10, 1938 in Rayne, Louisiana. Allan, of Cajun French heritage, grew up in a musical family, and at the age of six obtained his first guitar. At thirteen, he became a founding member of Walter Mouton and the Scott Playboys, a traditional Cajun music band. A few years later he left the Scott Playboys to join Cajun music band Lawrence Walker and the Wandering Aces.

In 1956 he saw Elvis Presley perform live on the Louisiana hayride music program, and shortly afterwards, Allan began to play rock and roll music. In 1958, he left the Wandering Aces to form the Krazy Kats, and in doing so helped to pioneer what became known as swamp pop music. That same year, he recorded “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights” for the Jin label in Ville Platte, Louisiana. That song became a swamp pop classic. He later recorded for Mercury Records and the Viking label of Crowley, Louisiana among others. He returned to the Jin label in the early 1970s and went on to record many notable swamp pop tunes, including his version of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land” and Merle Haggard’s “Somewhere on Skid Row”.

Allan has performed in Europe well over a dozen times. He is also the author of two music-related books: "Memories: A Pictorial History of South Louisiana Music" (1988) and "Born to be a Loser" (1992) with Bernice Larson Webb, a biography of swamp pop musician Jimmy Donley. He is a retired educator, musician, and author living in Lafayette, Louisiana. He performs occasionally for Louisiana festivals and special events.