“It relies heavily on New Orleans, particularly Fats Domino-style music, that triplets piano sound which is very pronounced in swamp pop music. “What the musicians and recording engineers did was come up with their own idea of what rock ‘n’ roll should sound like for the south Louisiana audience,” says Allan. The secret to its longevity is how it embraces Louisiana traditions and makes it into something of its own. This may be true from a distance, but to swamp pop fans, it is the music of Louisiana. Just witness the massive crowds that assemble for the Swamp Pop Music Festival in July in Gonzales every year, or check out the packed dance floor at Grace’s Lounge in St. “It’s a cousin to zydeco and Cajun music, but is the red-headed stepchild that never got the recognition that the other two did.” The museum is housed in a restored Southern Pacific train depot, where knowledgeable docents, some of whom are swamp pop musicians, tell about the jukebox, costumes and other items on display. “It’s a gumbo or jambalaya a true native Louisiana music genre,” explains Sharon Fontenot, curator of the Louisiana Swamp Pop Museum in Ville Platte, designated by the legislature in 1995 as the Swamp Pop Capital of the World. We just called it south Louisiana music, before then. It was called swamp pop in the 1970s by a guy from England named Bill Millar.

“Rod Bernard, Warren Storm, Tommy McClain, Clint West and I started recording this music in the late 1950s and early 1960s, not realizing that we were creating a new genre of music.

Allan is quick to add, “I don’t go around wearing a crown.' Many call him the “King of Swamp Pop,” having recorded “Lonely Days and Lonely Nights” and a stirring version of Chuck Berry's “The Promised Land,” both swamp pop anthems.

“Swamp pop music was created without us knowing it was a different genre,” says Johnnie Allan. It’s a style of music born out of a regional interpretation of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, country and French Louisiana musical influences in the 1950s and early '60s that defies time, continuing its popularity today. There is no greater example of how Louisiana enjoys being itself than swamp pop.

Swamp song country