Founded by Lou Adler in 1967, soon after he had sold his successful Dunhill label to ABC Records.

Ode titles were distributed by CBS from 1967 to 1969, A&M Records (US) from 1970 to 1976, and then back to CBS from late 1976 to 1978, at which point the label was discontinued. Some titles in the second CBS series were co-released with Epic.