This collection documents the musical recording, performance, composing, and research career of Johnnie Allan (b. John Allen Guillot, 1938 -), the legendary Louisiana swamp pop music artist, educator, and author. The collection contains sound recordings, graphics and visual materials, textual materials, and oversize items. The materials in the collection also represent swamp pop music (rhythm and blues, rock and roll, country, and popular music elements combined with the traditional music of Cajun and Creole musicians) and the diversity of South Louisiana musical genres and styles.

Included is a nearly complete collection of Johnnie Allan's commercially recorded audio sound recordings, both analog and digital, from 1958 - 2011. The series also contains commercial audio and video recording compilations featuring various artists (including Johnnie Allan), produced in Louisiana, nationally and internationally, and other recordings from his professional and personal collections.

The photograph collection represents original research materials collected and compiled for Allan’s publications. Additionally, throughout his career, he contributed to commercial recording liner notes, documentaries, and works by other artists. The collection documents his numerous collaborations.

The collection also consists of promotional and textual materials: an autobiography published by Johnnie Allan in 2003, incuding pictorial, biographical, discographical, and chronological performance venue sections; several posters; and other career related items.

Johnnie Allan donated the collection of materials acquired throughout his career from 1951 to 2012. The materials are located in three University of Louisiana at Lafayette repositories: Cajun and Creole Music Collection (CCMC, CCMC-ARCH) and the University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection (UAAMC) of the University Libraries Special Collections; and the Center for Louisiana Studies (CLS) of the College of Liberal Arts.