Apple’s (AAPL) invitation-only special event Wednesday could go either way.

It could be a ploy to get the press to publicize some relatively inconsequential improvements in Apple’s increasingly long-in-the-tooth iPod line (a product line that once accounted for anywhere from a third to half the company’s quarterly revenue and now brings in less than one fifth.)

Or it could signal the confluence of three classic Apple story threads:

• A new and surprising confection of hardware and software that restores our sense of childlike wonder;
• The reappearance of Apple’s iconic CEO, restored to health by the organ transplant that saved his life;
• The digital debut — via iTunes — of one of the most influential bands in the history of popular music (and a Steve Jobs favorite), nearly 40 years after their break-up.

The timing is propitious.

The Beatles’ Apple Corps has not only settled its lingering legal disputes with Apple Inc., it has scheduled for the same day (9-9-09) the long-awaited release of the digitally remastered Beatles catalog and the much-anticipated video game Rock Band: The Beatles.

Meanwhile, Steve Jobs is back at work on the Cupertino campus — leaving his car parked, once again, in a handicapped space. To be sure, he’s been stepping back from the spotlight — even before his medical leave — giving other members of Apple’s management team a chance to shine. But if he’s ever going to appear in public again, this would seem a perfect opportunity.

Finally, it’s probably time to do something with the part of the iPod line that isn’t morphing into an iPhone. Either trim it — as Silicon Alley‘s Dan Frommer suggests — or take it in a new direction. Some megapixel eyes to go with those white ear buds would be a good start, last-minute reports of a technical hiccup notwithstanding.

Has Apple piqued your interest yet? Tune in Wednesday at 10 a.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Eastern). When we know something, you will too.

See also:

• Apple event roulette: Place your bets
• How the Beatles became a video game
• Munster: Steve Jobs will host next week’s Apple special event
• Another take: Steve Jobs appearance not expected Sept. 9
• Goodbye iPod, hello iPhone