This album consists of only John's singing, his guitar playing, and some strange effects all recorded on a 4-track recorder. All of the songs on this album were recorded before John left the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1992 (during touring of the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour).
"Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt" remains a very rare and hard-to-find album, since in 1998 John had it removed from all record store shelves and stopped publication of it along with his second solo album "Smile From The Streets You Hold"(1997-Birdman Records) because he felt uncomfortable with them being available to the public. In 2001 John released his 3rd solo album entitled "To Record Only Water for Ten Days" under Warner Brothers music.