Leo is great. He took that Tom T Hall tune (Pamela Brown) and made it his. I have a double album (yes, LP) of his. And I happen to have that exact John Hiatt album also, CRR. I agree with your assessment of the song list, but some but some mighty good tunes on it.
Cry Love, Wrote It Down And Burned It, and Dust Down a Country Road are the other stand outs on that Hiatt album