Petty went into the control room, and put the original demo tape on, which featured just him and a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar.

He believed that they had yet to record an arrangement better than this demo, which made him so furious that he stormed up the stairs into his house, and punched the wall, causing severe damage to his left hand.

After taking time off for his hand to heal, Petty called Jimmy Iovine in to help him finish "Rebels" along with some other tracks on Southern Accents.

Alan "Bugs" Weidel, Tom's roadie, considers "Rebels" a least favorite of his due to Petty's broken hand.

"[2] Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Additional musicians The Drive-By Truckers released a cover version of Rebels on their compilation The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities in 2009.