Cooter Brown, sometimes given as Cootie Brown, is a name used in metaphors and similes for drunkenness, mostly in the Southern United States. Cooter Brown supposedly lived on the line which divided the North and South during the American Civil War, making him eligible for military draft by either side. He had family on both sides of the line, so he did not want to fight in the war. He decided to get drunk and stay drunk for the duration of the war so that he would be seen as useless for military purposes and would not be drafted. Ever since, colloquial and proverbial ratings of drunkenness have been benchmarked against the legendary drinker: "as drunk as Cooter Brown" or "drunker than Cooter Brown."
Another version
Another version of the Cooter Brown story: Cooter Brown was a biracial man who lived in southern Louisiana on a small plot of land given to him by an old Cajun fur trapper. Cooter lived alone in the old Cajun's shack. When the Civil War broke out, Cooter didn't want to choose sides, because he didn't know who might win. He didn't like people much and was fearful of both sides. Because of this, Cooter, who was a heavy drinker anyway, began drinking all the time. Cooter always dressed like an Indian so as to confirm the fact that he was an Indian and not a Black man. And as such, he was a free man. Whenever soldiers showed-up in the area they would always find him drunk. Often he'd offer the soldiers a drink. Word began to spread about the crazy, drunken Indian named Cooter Brown. By the time the war ended, Cooter couldn't have stopped drinking even if he had wanted to. One night his shack caught fire and burned completely to the ground. When locals investigated the burned site the next day there was nothing that remained of Cooter's body. They surmised that old Cooter had so much alcohol in him that he had just burned up. Since then Cooter Brown has been synonymous with inebriation."
Other uses
A song on Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson's album Belly of the Sun is titled 'Drunk as Cooter Brown'.
A song on Houston rapper Devin The Dude's album To Tha X-Treme is named 'Cooter Brown'.
A song on North American old-timey band Who Hit John's album Heirloom is named 'Cooter Brown'.
A song by North Carolina Celtic punk band My Three Kilts is named Cooter Brown.
Cootie Brown is a fictional character made familiar by the band Mossy Oak from the White Mills, KY area in the early 2000s. The character was known for his infamous drunken stupors, and characterized as a daily fisherman.
Cootie Brown held any job that fit the situation. He was known all over the south for his various stages of drunkenness since at least the late 50s or earlier.
Cootie Brown's Restaurant is a popular, locally owned eatery in Johnson City, Tennessee, and whose walls are adorned with whimsical murals depicting his various adventures.
Cooter Brown's Tavern & Oyster Bar has operated in New Orleans, Louisiana since 1977, and is decorated with carved caricatures of late celebrities.
Cooter Brown's Twisted Southern Cooking is a restaurant located in Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach Delaware. As the name suggests, they specialize in southern cooking, particularly bourbon.
Keith Anderson's song 'Three Chord Country And American Rock & Roll' includes the lines: "Park our pick-ups in a circle, Let the tailgates down. Laugh while everybody's gettin' drunk as Cooter Brown."
Cooter Brown's is a southern Sports Bar in Altamonte Springs, FL., on Hwy 436 Semoran Blvd. There is also a southern sports bar and grill in Jay Florida spelled as Kooter Brown's
