Back to Amadie, It's pretty well know that he was beaten badly after that dance for accepting the handkercheif of a white woman. It should be noted that the men were supposedly not from the area and were just passing through. Amadie was apparently well accepted in the local areas he played.
He also did die in an asylum. Many people tie the two together but he lived along time between the beating and being comitted.
Story goes that he was beaten so badly that he was never able to sing very well again. Put a damper on his musical career. He also was never married, and syphilus from the carousing would certainly have led to his demise in those days.
It sure does make for nice copy to say the man went crazy when he couldn't sing anymore and had to be commited but the real story is probably much more down to earth.
LZ

Amedee's family is vague in their comments, but he apparently died of a "social disease" which, considering the times, is believed to have been syphillis. The beating did happen, and for the reason that everyone knows, but it did not kill him.

I remember Denis personally, even though I was young. He died, if I remember correctly, right around my 11th birthday, which would have been 1989. He used to ask Joel and me to dance while he played fiddle, then he'd sign dollar bills and give one to each of us in exchange for a kiss on the cheek.