Anyway, I called him at home, and he relayed to me this story:
Robert Noll was hanging around to see Stevie at St. Andrew's Hall in downtown Detroit in July, 1983. This was Stevie's first appearance in the Detroit area. Backstage after the show, Robert noticed that Stevie was really bummed. It turns out that Stevie had lost his wallet either before or during the show. That wallet had all of Stevie's spending money for the road trip, and his autographed photo of Jimi Hendrix. Robert headed over to Stevie's bus, and offered to show Stevie around Detroit to help cheer him up.
So, Stevie joined Robert in his old, beat-up Olds Cutlass, and they tooled around the city (again, this was after Stevie's St. Andrew's Hall show). Robert knew that Hubert Sumlin was at the Soup Kitchen (which was and is the most respected, real blues saloon in Detroit). Hubert is one of Stevie's idols, as we all know now, so they headed over to the Kitchen for the show. Hubert knew both Robert and Stevie by this time, so Hubert eventually called Stevie up to the stage and they jammed for some time. Robert says this night was one of the most memorable nights in his career, playing with both Stevie and Hubert.
Robert was headed for a gig last Friday when I talked to him, so I'm going to call him again and see if he knows of any photos of that night. Also, since I am the newsletter editor of the Detroit Blues Society, I'll ask if any other members know of photos or audios of that night at the Kitchen. February's newsletter is already out, so we'll do it in March.
Anyway, that's the story direct from the guy who actually took Stevie to the gig.