Interview with Johnnie Allan

Accession No.: 
BE1-009

Interviewed by Shane Bernard and Charles "C.C." Adcock;

01:00 - Louisiana musicians who used stage names - Bobby Charles, Benny Graeff;
01:57 - Golden age of Swamp Pop;
03:25 - Defining Swamp Pop - "Half fais-do-do and half Domino";
06:13 - Engineering Swamp Pop sound - Floyd Soileau, J.D. Miller, Eddie Shuler;
06:40 - More on J.D. Miller's influence;
08:45 - Billy Joe Royal;
10:12 - Johnnie's musical influences - Started playing Cajun music pretty early in life, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard;
12:43 - Discussing radio stations he'd listen to when he was younger - Del Rio, Nashville, Chicago radio stations;
16:12 - Family members who played music - All of his siblings played and sang, his grandfather and mom were both musicians;
17:13 - Talking about his time playing with Walter Mouton and Lawrence Walker
18:45 - Swamp pop standards - Mathilda is what Johnnie considers the "anthem of Swamp Pop";
20:21 - Johnnie saw Elvis Presley perform in Shreveport on the Louisiana Hayride;
23:00 - African American and white musicians recording and performing together prior to integration - They discuss how this influenced the music
27:18 - Brushes with success - "Promised Land" was released four times in England
30:00 - Touring Europe;
31:15 – Andy Kershaw;
33:50 - Roots music revival;
36:38 - Discussing stage names;
41:01 - First Band - Krazy Kats - recording their first song - most of Johnnie's early recordings were w/ Floyd Soileau and recorded by J.D. Miller;
43:20 - Discussing payola;
45:35 - Discussing the other people who cowrote "South to Louisiana"

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Shane K. Bernard
Subject: 
Louisiana, Folk Music, Swamp Pop, Oral History
Creator: 
Shane K. Bernard
Informants: 
Johnnie Allan, Charles Adcock
Recording date: 
Tuesday, June 12, 1990
Coverage Spatial: 
Lafayette, LA
Publisher: 
Shane K. Bernard
Rights Usage: 
All Rights Reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
46:17
Cataloged Date: 
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Digitized Date: 
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Original Format: 
Audio--Cassette--60
Digital Format: 
Audio
Bit Depth: 
24 bit
Sampling Rate: 
96 kHz
Storage Location: 
Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore