Artist: Various
Album: Ain't It Hard-Sunset Strip 60s Sounds Garage and Psych from Viva Records
Label: Sundazed Music
Released: 1965-1967 / 2007
Genre: Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Audio codec: FLAC | lossless

The short-lived Viva Records label was one wildly eclectic outfit. Helmed by hitmaker Snuff Garrett, this Los Angeles-based imprint targeted the teen marketplace with a series of extraordinary garage / psych / pop singles. The label’s command of popular styles prevailed across these Top 40 hopefuls, ranging from the stomping beat of the Shindogs to the psych-fuzz nirvana of the Sound Sandwich. And there’s Class of ’66 garage-grunge from the Wailers and the Second Helping (yes, that’s a teenage Kenny Loggins howling at the moon on the positively snarling “Let Me In,” among other selections). With a supporting cast led by Leon Russell and J.J. Cale and bolstered with choice Snuff Garrett Productions like Gypsy Trips and Sunday Servants, Ain’t It Hard! stands as an essential anthology of Sunset Strip sixties sounds!

Tracklist:
1. The Sound Sandwich - Apothecary Dream   2:47
2. The Second Helping - Let Me In   2:49
3. The Leathercoated Minds - Psychotic Reaction   2:26
4. The Wailers - I Don't Want To Follow You   2:20
5. Gypsy Trips - Ain't It Hard   2:21
6. The Second Helping - Hard Times   2:06
7. The Leathercoated Minds - Eight Miles High   2:05
8. The Second Helping - On Friday   2:41
9. The Sound Sandwich - Tow Away   2:01
10.The Shindogs - Who Do You Think You Are   2:25
11.The Second Helping - Floating Downstream On An Inflatable Rubber Raft   2:25
12.The Sound Sandwich - Zig Zag News   3:18
13.The Leathercoated Minds - Non-Stop   2:09
14.Sunday Servants - I'm Puttin' You On   2:14
15.Sunday Servants - Who Do You Love   2:18
16.Roger Tillison - Nobody's Lover   2:12