 According to a biography by Waller's son Maurice, Waller told his son never to play the song within earshot because he had to sell it when he needed money.Maurice Waller wrote that his father objected to hearing "On the Sunny Side of the Street" on the radio.The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA Victor album "Handful of Keys" state that Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf.