While in Nashville to tape an episode of
The Johnny Cash Show, Young was convinced to record some of his new tracks in
Elliot Mazer's
Quadrafonic Sound Studios. Since it was a Saturday night, Mazer scrambled to find musicians who were not working that night and was able to bring in Drummond, Keith, and Buttrey. Over two nights they recorded four tracks that would end up on
Harvest. Young then used frequent collaborator Nitzsche to arrange and produce two tracks with an orchestra. He then brought the three Nashville musicians and Nitzsche to his ranch in California to record the three electric-guitar songs in his barn. At some point, he dubbed this new group The Stray Gators. After the release of
Harvest, they appeared on the "
War Song" single, credited to Young and
Graham Nash. Outtakes from the
Harvest sessions later appeared on the
Journey Through the Past soundtrack and
The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972. The band appears on the ''
Tonight's the Night'' song "Lookout Joe", which was recorded in late 1972, and with Neil Young on an early session recording of
Joni Mitchell's "
You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" that was eventually released on
Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975). In 1973, they backed Young on his
Time Fades Away tour, though Buttrey was replaced mid-tour and on the album
Time Fades Away by
John Barbata. They ceased to operate as a unit after that tour, although Drummond and Keith continued to work individually with Young on subsequent projects. Thereafter, Nitzsche eschewed live performance in favor of a career as a prolific record producer and film scorer, culminating in the 1983
Academy Award for Best Original Song for "
Up Where We Belong". Although he was estranged from Young after castigating the singer-songwriter in a 1974 interview and commencing a relationship with his former partner, actress
Carrie Snodgress, they reconciled by 1986. Young reconvened The Stray Gators for his 1992
Harvest Moon album, with
Spooner Oldham replacing Nitzsche on keyboards. Nitzsche, however, did arrange the strings on "Such a Woman", as he had done on
Harvest. ==Past members==